Minister K.D. Lal Kantha inspects the livestock farm and holds a farmers’ meeting at Kotagala.
In line with the Dairy Hub programme carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation, K.D. Lal Kantha, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation inspected dairy farms and held a special farmers’ meeting in the Kotagala area yesterday ( 24th).
On this occasion, the work of the Ministry’s livestock division on the problems faced by dairy farmers was discussed and the Minister also met the farming community directly to receive their views and suggestions.
The farmers expressed great appreciation for the encouragement and the Ministry’s intervention, saying that no minister had ever visited their farms in this way. A special presentation of cheques was also made to support the development of dairy farms.
At the farmers’ meeting, the Minister expressed the following views:
“The highest milk production in Sri Lanka takes place in the Nuwara Eliya District. Our livestock officers have made a great sacrifice to achieve this, and they have done so amid great difficulties. In particular, there is a shortage of officers. Similarly, our dairy farmers are also engaged in the livestock sector amid great hardship.
We inspected several cattle sheds today. The biggest problem they have is animal feed, especially the lack of land to grow pasture. Therefore, a problem has arisen with animal feed. For that reason, we decided to discuss this with the landowners. Some of them also had problems with obtaining loans. At present, our ministry has a loan programme.
Many of our dairy farmers supply their milk to Milco. When I asked them, they said the price they receive is good. Dairy farmers are a group performing a national duty. The institutions such as the Department of Animal Production and Health, Provincial Departments of Animal Production and Health, Milco, and National Livestock Development Board are involved in the livestock sector.
Currently, we produce only about forty percent of the country’s milk requirement. The remainder is imported from abroad. We are determined to increase milk production.
We now need to take in more protein foods. We still consume mostly carbohydrate-rich foods. So, we must increase the consumption of protein-rich foods. There is great scope within the livestock sector. The government is paying special attention to this.
A large number of officials and farmers attended the event.
