Milk production to increase by 50 percent

More than 35,000 acres of land under NLDB:

Hiran H.Senewiratne

Sri Lanka produces only 20 percent of the country's national milk/dairy requirement and plans are afoot to increase production by 50 percent, NLDB Chairman Dr Chandrawansa Pathirajah said.

At present the Government imports more than 60,000 tonnes of powdered and liquid milk and therefore we could save a lot of money if we develop the local dairy and fresh milk industry, he said.

The National Livestock Development Board (NLDB)is looking at possibilities to improve the local dairy sector and to increase the liquid milk production.

He said that the NLDB is now promoting liquid fresh milk in pasteurized bottle milk form in selected areas in the country, but due to the high consumption rate and demand for liquid milk, the NLDB cannot meet the demand. Therefore, they are now looking at ways to increase the local milk production in their farms, he said.

The NLDB has more than 35,000 acres of land and 30 farms under its purview and is now in the process of penetrating into the Northern and Eastern Provinces due to the well established dairy and milk production business in those areas, he said. Today we produce 20 percent of the total milk production with 150,000 heads of cattle. It is now planning to import cattle from Australia. They are also now in the process of creating breeding farms to increase the local liquid fresh milk production, he said.

Further, they are also plan to provide input to set up several cattle feed mills for the dairy industry investing Rs 37.5 million. Five thousand acres of land has been identified at Kanthale to cultivate animal feed, which is also one of the strategic plans of NLDB to develop the sector,Dr Pathirajah said.

Despite a drop in milk prices in the world market by 50 percent, the local farmers and industry was able to survive to the Cess imposed on imported dairy products for the development of the industry, he said.

With these developments the NLDB plans to increase daily production by 10 fold and produce 100,000 litres of milk per day. This target is acheivable with the dairy industry in the Northern and Eastern Provinces getting back to business with the dawning of a lasting peace, he said.