Dairy animals to be imported:

More help for milk production

Arrangements have been made to increase milk production in Sri Lanka by importing 4,500 dairy animals from Australia and develop farms belonging to National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) at Bopaththalawa, Nikaweratiya and Siringapatha.

A project has been formulated and this will be implemented in two phases.

Under phase 1 of the project, 2,000 dairy animals will be imported and the Bopaththalawa farm will be developed at US$ 12,944,058. The implementation of Phase 1 of the project will be carried out in two stages.

Under Stage 1, it is expected to develop infrastructure facilities at Bopaththalawa farm and implement a pilot project for nine months by importing 500 dairy animals to the Bopaththalawa farm. Under Stage 2, it is expected to import the balance 1,500 dairy animals to the Bopaththalawa farm after completion of the pilot projects based on the performance of the dairy animals imported under Stage 1. Under Phase 2 of the project, the balance 2,500 dairy animals will be imported and the Nikaweratiya and Siringapatha farms will be develop based on the performance of Phase 1 of the project.

The Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank (Rabobank) of Netherlands and the Export Finance’ Insurance Corporation (EFIC) of Australia have agreed to provide of US$ 10,524,492 loan to implement Phase 1 of the project. The total cost of Phase 1 of the project is US$ 12,944,058 of which 81 percent of the project cost will be covered from the Rabobank and EFIC financing. The balance 19 percent of the project cost amounting to US$ 2,419,566 will be provided by Rabobank of Netherlands.

The loan agreements were signed by Finance and Planning Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, EFIC Chief Credit Officer John William Pacey, on behalf of EFIC and Structured Trade and Export Finance, Rabobank Vice President Han Bartelds on behalf of Rabobank, Netherlands. Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Kathy Klugman also participated.