Govt, Co-operative Working to Improve Dairy Industry
Government is working closely with the dairy industry in the implementation of an agreed package that will addressed many of the major problems confronting dairy farmers.
This is according to FCDCL (Fiji Co-operative Dairy Company Limited) chairman Simon Cole.
The package has been designed by the Dairy Leadership Group (DILG) as part of the New Zealand-funded $10 million initiative to improve the dairy industry. The DILG is comprised of representatives from the New Zealand Government, Fiji Ministry of Agriculture, Fiji Co-operative Dairy Company Limited and Fiji Dairy Limited.
Prime NZ has been consulting with representatives from the BTec team (those tackling tuberculosis), and Bio Security in attendance.
According to Mr Cole, Government has already introduced a farmers’ compensation package for cattle lost to tuberculosis.
Working with the group, Government has determined that increased efficiency leading to the recovery of the industry can be achieved by implementing a package of interventions that included:
The group is presently identifying money to fund the package including a proper price for a litre of milk. “We need the farmers to invest in the industry, we need the farmers to benefit from the packaged improvements and we need them to see a profit,” Mr Cole said. “With Government’s continued support we believe this could become a reality.”