On a concept proposed by President Maithripala Sirisena, the government will soon implement a National Nutrition program to provide a glass of fresh milk daily, to schoolchildren that would improve their nutritional standards, while also ensuring a sustainable income for local dairy farmers. Already, 450 schools island-wide reap the benefit of this scheme, and it is understood the government intends to expand the program to all students from grade one to five effective from September this year. There is an estimated 1.7m children in this age group.
The government aims to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk, thereby reducing the import of milk powder, and improving the livelihood of the local dairy farmers through selling more volumes and improving efficiency. The President has directed that every assistance be provided to the dairy farmers through the ‘Grama Shakthi Program’, to make the new scheme a success.
Milco Chairman Zulfikar Cader said, Milco will certainly participate in implementing the new scheme from September this year. On the initiative of Milco, a glass of milk is already provided for schoolchildren in 425 schools in difficult areas of the country. “There is a surplus of milk and as such the dairy farmers found it difficult to sell their entire milk production. It is in this context that the President proposed the new scheme to give a glass of milk to schoolchildren in the primary grades. Milco collects 60% of its milk requirement from collection centres in the country amounting to 350,000 litres of milk daily”, he said.
Pelawatte milk production Chairman Ariyaseela Wickramanayake said:
“Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in milk during the past. At present there is a surplus of milk in the country and the disheartened dairy farmers who could not sell their milk used to dump them into the river. In fact, there is no need to import milk powder, but improve the lot of the poor dairy farmer. The Pelawatte Milk Company will extend every assistance to make the President’s concept of providing a glass of milk to schoolchildren, a reality”.
Cargills Agri Business Group Manager, Haridas Fernando said, it is commendable that moves are afoot to provide a glass of milk to schoolchildren which will improve their nutritional standards.
“Cargills and Kotmale have launched a number of programs to develop the local dairy industry, and have invested substantially to develop the processing capacity for value added dairy products in Sri Lanka under the ‘Kotmale’ and ‘Magic’ brands. We buy 150,000 litres of milk daily from the dairy farmers for our milk processing facilities. In the past, there were instances where there was a surplus of milk, which could not be sold in the market. Cargills is always ready to help the local farmer in coming to their rescue whenever they are unable to sell their produce,”he said.
Cargills Manager Corporate - Product Research and Development, Dr. Nelum Vithana, said, as malnutrition in children in Sri Lanka is high, a glass of fresh milk fortified with vitamins will meaningfully contribute towards improving the overall nutrition standard of the country, and promote healthy development in children.
The dairy sector has been identified as a key component in improving the livelihood of the local farming community. Sri Lanka’s domestic milk production is approximately 1m litres per day, and the Government has taken steps to promote growth of the industry with the intention of making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in its milk requirements.