Sri Lanka spends on milk powder imports every year an amount equivalent to the cost of constructing the Hambantota Port, NDF Badulla District MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake told Parliament yesterday
Participating in a debate, Dassanayake alleged that dairy cattle were increasingly being slaughtered for meat due to the lack of grazing land, creating a serious threat to the country’s milk production.
He claimed that the Department of Wildlife Conservation had taken legal action against cattle owners on the grounds that their livestock consumed grass reserved for wild elephants, creating difficulties for dairy farmers in areas adjoining the Maduru Oya, Maha Oya and Lahugala forest reserves.
“The lack of grazing land has become a major issue. As a result, farmers are compelled to sell cattle for meat, which adversely affects domestic milk production,” he said.
Dassanayake noted that nearly 70 per cent of the country’s milk powder requirement is met through imports and warned that the situation would worsen if dairy farmers continued to abandon the industry.
He said the decline in local milk production was forcing Sri Lanka to spend billions of rupees annually on milk powder imports.
Responding to the concerns, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Namal Karunaratne said the issue required a balanced and carefully considered solution through dialogue among all stakeholders.
He told Parliament that there were 259,370 registered dairy farmers in the country and that Sri Lanka’s dairy sector accounted for 1,907,423 cattle.
The Deputy Minister said that approximately 9,000 acres of private land were currently being used as grazing land and stressed the need to address the concerns of both farmers and wildlife conservation authorities through constructive engagement.
By Saman Indrajith
