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Govt. moos: 20,000 cows coming from Australia
View(s):A staggering milk food import bill of US $ 300 million (or more than Rs 39 billion) a year has prompted the Government to import 20,000 cows from Australia.
The move comes on a recommendation from Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa who says the country needs an estimated 900 million litres of milk but could only produce 300 million litres. This is despite 30 per cent of the workforce of Sri Lanka being engaged in animal farming, he has told his ministerial colleagues.
The new move is prompted by the rapidly rising prices of milk powder in the local market. A fall in the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, it is feared, may lead to a further price spiral. According to Minister Rajapaksa, Wellard Rural Export Pvt. Limited in Australia has been selected as “the most suitable company” from among 41 reputed suppliers. The 20,000 cows will cost US $ 73,954,054.83 (more than Rs 9.6 billion).
The cattle are to be distributed among selected dairy farmers. It is being done under the Commercial Scale Dairy Development Loan Scheme (CSDDLS) with the Regional Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The scheme aims to improve productivity of dairy farmers to transform small scale dairy farms into commercial scale ones by facilitating milk based industries as well as to bring about self-sufficiency in milk.
The Government is to enter into an agreement with the Export Finance Insurance Corporation (EFIC) of Australia and the Rabobank, Netherlands, for funding for this project. The agreement is to be finalised by the Department of External Resources.