Slight rise in local milk production
| Friday February 26, 2016 17:00
However, this reflected an improvement in the dairy production compared to the 2.4 million litres, which were produced during the same period in 2014.
Minister of Agriculture, Patrick Ralotsia told parliament on Tuesday that the increase might have been as a result of efforts they have been embarking on to help improve milk production in the country, which includes the introduction of the dairy-sexed semen.
“The Ministry has introduced the use of dairy sexed semen to help improve the quality of dairy animals as well as leased the Sunny Side dairy farm to investors who imported 330 dairy cattle which are in production,” he said.
Last year, government leased the NAMPAAD dairy farm to a South African based couple Rob and Erica Ter Hofte on a 15-year lease.
The partnership is expected to provide farmers with practical training as one of the government’s efforts to reduce too much dependency on imports.
The country is currently heavily dependent on imports for milk ad related products with about 95 percent of the national demand being met by supply from outside the country which the Ministry attributed to lack of infrastructure, shortage of quality feeds, low farm gate price as well as lack of appropriate funding to support the sector. This resulted in the ministry coming up with a strategy ‘Viable Competitive and Profitable Dairy Sector’ in which they are targeting the production of at least six million litres per annum.
Other projects which are expected to boost the milk production include the P120 million MilkAfric dairy farm in Lobatse, which targets to produce about 20, 000 litres per day thus creating close to 250 jobs in the next two and half years.
Ralotsia added that his ministry spent over P11 million to buy production equipment for 127 farmers as part efforts to stimulate local horticultural production through Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD).
“It is envisaged that production will further improve when Thune Irrigation Scheme becomes operational.
The ministry has also secured funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development for the irrigation scheme at Palapye using wastewater,” he added.
Ralotsia said the country is still experiencing effects of drought as declared last year, hence the agricultural sector is the hardest hit by the disaster.
“This ministry therefore faces uphill challenges in its endeavour to pursue and attain its mandate of attaining national food security and global competitiveness in agricultural products,” he said.