CIC Agri Business steps into yoghurt and curd production

CIC Agri Business opened a Milk Processing Centre at its dairy farm in Poonani (Eastern Province) and commenced the production of yoghurt and curd.

The Milk Processing Centre was opened by Agriculture, Agrarian Services and Mahaweli Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena.

CIC Agri Business has formed a joint venture with Mahaweli Livestock and Agro Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd and jointly owns the Poonani and the Muthuwella Dairy Farms where the Company has plans to take dairy farming to a new level. The Company with the help of the USAID CORE (Connecting Regional Economies) Project has already trained over 350 Dairy Farmers from the Eastern Province who are currently supplying over 5,000 litres of milk per day. Plans are underway to train and acquire the services of over 4,000 dairy farmers within the next 12 months in a bid to collect 20,000 litres of fresh milk per day. Together with the Company's own production of 5,000 litres per day from the two farms at Poonani and Muthuwella CIC Agri Business intends to process around 25,000 litres of milk per day in production of curd and yoghurt.

Minister Sirisena commended CIC Agri Businesses for the initiative taken to develop the dairy farm which was in an area where terrorism prevailed not long ago and was a scene of devastation.

It is a commendable effort by a private sector company such as CIC Agri Business to come to the Eastern Province and help the dairy farmers in this area who have suffered in the past due to the war," he said.