Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Wednesday, 8 September 2021 00:22 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Charumini de Silva
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| Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage
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In a strategic move, the Government has turned to the private sector to help make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in dairy milk production, handing over nearly 3,000 acres of State-owned but underutilised land on lease to boost
production through new investment.
The Cabinet of Ministers this week gave its backing for a commercial dairy farm venture that will see 2,771 acres of lands coming under two State agencies provided to five private firms for an investment of Rs. 8 billion.
Through this project, the Government is aiming to make the country self-sufficient in liquid dairy milk by 2024 and save $ 365 million, which otherwise would be spent on importing milk powder annually.
“This is a 100% private sector investment. The Government is only assisting the investors with the land necessary for the project, which again are all unused,” Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.
Around 2,771 acres of land belonging to the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) and the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) will be provided to one foreign and four local private investors on a 30-year lease basis.
The five firms and the respective projects are as follows:
1. HBKIR International Investments Agro Ltd. and Access Agro Ltd. have been allotted 700 acres from NLDB farm in Nikaweratiya
2. Pesara Logistics Institute has been assigned 60 acres from the NLDB farm in Nikaweratiya
3. Farm’s Pride Ltd. has been allotted 811 acres from Galabodawaththa Estate and Mount Jean Estate belonging to the JEDB
4. Hillside Agro Ltd. Has been assigned 200 acres from Delthota Estate and 150 acres from Grate Valley belonging to the JEDB
5. Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka Ltd. has been allotted 250 acres from Kottukachchiya farm belonging to the NLDB
Farm’s Pride is also the owner and marketer of Crysbro Chicken and Sri Lanka’s first and most sophisticated vertically integrated poultry producer. Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka Ltd. is the sole franchisee for Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in Sri Lanka.
The awarding of contracts came after the Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication had requested the Board of Investment to encourage local and foreign investors to improve local milk production. The BOI sought proposals from interested investors, after which a technical committee made its recommendations.
Aluthgamage said the five private firms would invest Rs. 8 billion to import 4,200 milk cows and aim to produce 22 million litres of milk per year as an initial step, as they hope to grow a herd of 25,000 milk cows by 2025.
At present the dairy industry comprises Milco Ltd., Fonterra, Nestle, Lanka Milk Foods/Ambewela, Pelwatte and Kotmale, among others.
Sri Lanka’s annual requirement of liquid milk is 722 million litres, but the country produces only 40%, or 422 million litres, of it.
“This initiative is a stepping stone in the Government’s efforts towards shifting from import reliance to self-sufficiency, in line with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s policy framework. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries that are depending on powdered milk, when the majority are consuming liquid milk – which is more nutritious,” he explained.
Unavailability of sufficient animal food was pointed out by the Minister as a major drawback to promoting liquid dairy milk production in the country. He hoped that the lands provided for the private firms would prove useful in growing sufficient grass for the milk cows.
Accordingly, at least 40 tons of grass per day is required to feed 10,000 milk cows.
Successive Governments have initiated similar projects in the post-war era, but none were able to launch a consistent project to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in liquid dairy milk production.
