The Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project held its inaugural Dairy Enterprise Day to showcase dairy management’s best practices, recognize and encourage progressive dairy farmers and raise the profile of suppliers of inputs and service providers.
Together with the Project’s partner Dairy Processors, MOD is building a capacity in the value chain to meet the growing demand for quality milk by the increase of farm productivity and expanding the trade of locally produced milk and dairy products.
Held in a farm setting in the North Central Province, the full day event offered opportunities for knowledge enhancement, exposure to new technologies and innovations and the creation of business linkages.
P. Harrison, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock Development, Irrigation and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, was present as the Chief Guest, while the Guest of Honour was Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director, USAID, who also launched the ‘SAVIYA,’ the mobile extension message service for the dairy sector, developed by MOD in partnership with Dialog Axiata. ‘SAVIYA’ would support the existing extension efforts by the Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH), Provincial DAPHs and Dairy Processing Companies, enabling a broader reach by providing registered dairy entrepreneurs/farmers with time bound technical messages linked to the lactation stage of animals from pregnancy to calving, including calf management.
Minister Harrison said, “I have no doubt that it would be extremely useful to dairy entrepreneurs and would complement the existing services of public and private sectors.
A few years ago, dairy farmers were feeling discouraged and I believe the Market-Oriented Dairy Project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture had stepped in at the right time providing the much needed boost to enhance the capacities of our dairy farmers and the sector.”
With MOD completing one year of on-ground interventions since its official launch in May 2018, Matthew Krause, Project Director for MOD stated that “the Dairy Enterprise Day is yet another major step in enhancing the dairy sector of Sri Lanka.
We believe these farmers would gain much value out of the exhibition which exposed them to the best practices in dairy farming, new techniques and technologies and direct interaction with suppliers of services and inputs.” “These include 20 companies representing inputs and equipment suppliers such as silage, fodder, dairy and cultivation related equipment; three financial institutions and representation of services provided by both animal production and health and agriculture departments in the North Central Province.”
MOD Project’s holistic approach to developing the sector has led to the development of multiple partnerships across the sector, including the All Island Dairy Association (AIDA). The participants across the dairy value chain received critical skills and training to help them create sustainable and profitable businesses.
Future activities include helping to raise public awareness concerning the benefits of fresh milk consumption. It is expected that providing the necessary know-how as well as equipping the dairy sector, to have a more business-minded approach which would help create a sustainable businesses, raise the profile and build pride in the role they play in the national economy.
The Market-Oriented Dairy (MOD) Project aims to double the milk production of participating dairy farmers which would enable them to obtain a higher price premium for fresh milk through the interventions primarily designed to enhance their technical knowledge and create an entrepreneurial, business-oriented mindset.
Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director, USAID - “One, to help dairy farmers like you to strengthen your knowledge, adopt new technologies and innovations such as the SAVIYA service launched today and to facilitate networking and important business linkages.”
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