Boost for dairy farming

Plans underway to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk:

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

The government has made arrangements to develop dairy farming with the aim of making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk. Private sector support is a must to make this a success, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said.

He said the government will take steps to increase the country's milk production while strengthening the economy of milk farmers.

Minister Rajapaksa expressed these views while participating in the inauguration of a programme launched by Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd to provide a free glass of milk to students in Dhamma schools in Biyagama. The minister also inspected the milk production procedure of Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Minister Rajapaksa said in the past, Sri Lanka was a self-sufficient country with Pasgo Rasa.

"But it was lost with time. President Mahinda Rajapaksa launched several programmes to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in food," he said.

The minister said increasing milk production, importing hybrid cows and providing a good price for liquid milk, were some of the measures taken by the President to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk," the minister said.

Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd collects 27,000 litres of milk from over 3,500 farmers daily.

Disaster Management Deputy Minister Duleep Wijesekara, Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd Managing Director Achyut Kasireddy, Director (Human Resources and Institutional Affairs) Roshan Kulasooriya and Manager (Nutritions) Dr Sanath Mahavithanage also participated.