Sri Lankan authorities organize Dairy Enterprise Day to showcase and encourage dairy farmers
Authorities in Sri Lanka have taken measures to hold its inaugural Dairy Enterprise Day under the Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project aimed at showcasing dairy management’s best practices, recognize and encourage progressive dairy farmers and raise the profile of suppliers of inputs and service providers.
Together with the Project’s partner Dairy Processors, MOD is building a capacity in the value chain to meet the growing demand for quality milk by the increase of farm productivity and expanding the trade of locally produced milk and dairy products, the state owned English newspaper, Daily News has reported.
The event was held in a farm setting in the North Central Province and the full day event had offered opportunities for knowledge enhancement, exposure to new technologies and innovations as well as the creation of business linkages.
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock Development, Irrigation and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, P. Harrison was the Chief Guest at the event. The Guest of Honour was Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director, USAID, who also launched the ‘SAVIYA’ mobile extension message service for the dairy sector, developed by MOD in partnership with Dialog Axiata.
‘SAVIYA’ is reportedly aimed at supporting the existing extension efforts by Sri Lanka’s Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH), Provincial DAPHs and Dairy Processing Companies, enabling a broader reach by providing registered dairy entrepreneurs/farmers with time bound technical messages linked to the lactation stage of animals from pregnancy to calving, including calf management.
Minister Harrison has been quoted as saying, “I have no doubt that it would be extremely useful to dairy entrepreneurs and would complement the existing services of public and private sectors. A few years ago, dairy farmers were feeling discouraged and I believe the Market-Oriented Dairy Project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture had stepped in at the right time providing the much needed boost to enhance the capacities of our dairy farmers and the sector.”
OSL take:
Sri Lankan authorities have paid much attention to the development of the country’s dairy industry thereby expanding the business/investment opportunities in the industry. Many large scale local companies have also diversified into the dairy industry due to the untapped business potential in the industry. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s dairy industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23072019/Z_4 |