November 25, 2013

Sri Lanka has allocated funds in the 2014 budget proposals to import 20,000 milk cows of quality breeds in order to boost fresh milk production in the country.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, Sri Lanka has 238,322 registered dairy farmers and nearly another 100,000 unregistered dairy farmers.

The local diary industry produces only 40% of the daily milk requirement while the rest is imported mainly from Australia and New Zealand.

Sri Lanka's milk consumption is 1.65 million litres per day whereas the average milk production per day in 2012 is 83,125 litres, according Sri Lanka's livestock and health reports.

The government has taken measures to increase the local production and reduce the imports. From 2005 to 2012, total milk production increased by 107 million litres while number of dairy cows has increased by 150,000.

The Economic Development Ministry says that according to livestock experts another 300,000 of high-yielding dairy cows are needed to make Sri Lanka completely self-sufficient in fresh milk by 2016.