Sri Lanka is
setting up a training centre to enhance knowledge in dairy farming. The Netherlands
is supporting the centre, one of the world's most advanced dairy farming and
processing industries.
"Agricultural
education in the Netherlands has brought our small country from one of the
subsistence farmers to one of the world's largest agricultural exporters,"
Kingdom of the Netherlands Ambassador to Sri Lanka Tanja Gonggrijp said at the
training centre's launch.
Sri Lankan
Association of Animal Production (SLAAP) has set up a training centre for dairy
production. The centre is the collaborative result of the University of
Peradeniya with backing from the Netherlands.
Nishan
Dissanayake, the Senior Agricultural Policy Advisor at the Colombo Dutch
Embassy, made the following statement:
"The
Netherlands Embassy has carried out many analyses to better understand the
developing prospects in the dairy sector in Sri Lanka.”
The proposed
Dairy Training Centre will provide a skilled work-based learning path with
recognized practical, hands-on skills, both locally and internationally, with
short-term and full-time courses certified by the initiative's partner
university. The following dignitaries
signed the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) agreement for the centre.
1.
Upul Dissanayake, University of
Peradeniya's Vice-Chancellor
2.
Ajith Gunasekera, SLAAP
President
3.
Jan Jeronimus, Sri Lankan Dutch
Dairy Solutions Coordinator
The training
centre will have a dairy farming complex for a typical farming business with
125-150 cows, a processing facility, computer storage, bunker, silos, and
manure storage. It will also have operational study classrooms, boarding and
lodging facilities, as well as a separate set of livestock.
The Sri Lankan
Dutch Dairy Solutions Manager Jan Jeronimus commented on the development. He
explained that in the Netherlands, it is not possible to blindly copy-paste the
things done in the dairy sector as there is a very different context in Sri
Lanka. However, it is possible to copy-paste the underlying principles such as
good food, animal health care, universal principles of reproduction.
According to
some experts, the small dairy farmers in Sri Lanka obtain a yield of about 5 to
6 liters of milk. This yield is partly due to weak genetics, poor feeding
practices, and a lack of knowledge on animal care that leads to stress.
Some experts say
that yields can improve without genetic enhancement.
It is said to be
the result of better feed and treatment which reduces stress. The government of
Sri Lanka imported and distributed high yield cows to small dairy farmers, but
many died or became sick. According to dairy farmers, Sri Lanka also has a
shortage of veterinary surgeons in many regions.
Ambassador
Gonggrijp says that there are also activities in the global dairy industry that
reduce the environmental impact.
"We should
not only look at how much is made but also where it is manufactured and under
what conditions if you want to create a sustainable environment," said
Ambassador Gonggrijp.
She said the
government of the Netherlands had imposed rules on farmers to make the
livestock sector more environmentally friendly. "Because the dairy sector
is in its infancy, Sri Lanka has a rare opportunity to avoid these
situations," she said. "And by actually developing it right from the
start, you won't have such problems in a safe so robust way, at least in this
case." Climate change advocates have argued that methane and nitrous oxide
from burping and moving cow gas and manure helps to cause 'climate change.'
OSL Take: Sri Lanka is working towards becoming self-sustained
in dairy milk. Authorities have carried out many development programs targeting
the upliftment of the dairy milk industry. Such programs have resulted in the
expansion of business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s dairy industry.VBS/AT/20200106/Z_TB5
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