Dairy Training Centre to be established soon
The Sri Lankan dairy industry is on the correct path in its quest to increase the overall milk production in the country as one of the best known countries for dairy farming. In this context, the Netherlands is collaborating with the Department of Animal Science, Department of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya and the Sri Lanka Association of Animal Production (SLAAP) to establish a ‘Dairy Training Centre in Sri Lanka’.
A discussion was held at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce last week to explain and provide details of the ‘Sri Lankan dairy sector to benefit from Dutch Partnership’.
Ms. Tanja Gonggnjp, Netherlands Ambassador in Sri Lanka, said that a cluster of private companies and vocational education institutes in the Netherlands have formally joined forces to facilitate the establishment of the ‘Dairy Training Centre’ in Sri Lanka.
The success of the whole exercise of uplifting the dairy industry is very much visible when considering what Prof. D K N G Pushpakumara, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya told the Business Times on the sidelines of the event.
He said that as a forerunner to the uplifting and going to the market place with ‘branding’ they are to get the small scale dairy producers to come together in the Nuwara-Eliya and Kandy District to produce milk to culture cheese, preferably and appropriately branded and that cheese would be provided to all the hotels in these two districts.
He noted that, “first of all we need to group these farmers together and explain the best way of producing milk and not only to produce milk, but also how to make cheese. We already commenced a training programme to train them as to how to produce cheese in the Faculty”.
In the first instance the task would be to start on the small scale and get the ‘Samurdhi recipients’ of small dairy farmers owning one or two cows and get them into small clusters to process cheese, he indicated.
Prof. Pushpakumara said that they would have to make a tremendous attempt to bring in high quality to match the market as these hotels are normally patronised by tourists who have the experience of enjoying best quality cheese in their countries. He said that if they can create a brand name for their productions like ‘Ceylon Tea’ then they could achieve the real purpose.
Ms. Eva Weersem, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Netherlands, spoke on the task of training of trainers, and concentrated on ‘feed and waste management’. The training centres would involve education and commercial involvement from both countries, she asserted.
These workshops will improve the knowledge of agricultural extension officers and other trainers in the dairy sector and the focus of these training of trainers workshops will be on the very important aspects of feed and waste management.
She said: “Both these aspects are crucial if we are to create a sustainable and efficient dairy sector in Sri Lanka. As Sri Lankan dairy farms seek to grow in efficiency and size, knowledge of waste management is vital as higher density farms become prevalent and waste must be disposed in a sustainable way”.
The MOU signed by the parties involved is an important step to develop and establish a self-sustaining Dairy Training Centre in Sri Lanka, based on practical dairy farming and integrated in educational and training environment to strengthen educational structures on (higher) vocational levels.
The proposed Centre will provide an accredited work-based learning path that will lead to recognised practical, hands on skills, both locally and internationally. Hence, the Centre will contribute to further development of the dairy sector in Sri Lanka. It will reduce the vulnerability of local farmers by strengthening the fundamentals of their dairy operations.