BUSINESS Seprod craf ting private-public milk partnership
Target: 20 million litres
SERGE ISLAND Dairies, a subsidiary of Seprod Limited, says it is on target to grow its milk production to 7.4 million litres this year. That would put it in command of nearly 60 per cent of the local market, which outputs 12-13 million litres annually. But Seprod has even bigger ambitions: to get national output to 20 million litres by 2020. Seprod chief executive officer Richard Pandohie told Gleaner Business that the company is now crafting a plan to submit to Government for a private-public partnership. “We are putting a programme together to go to the government, to show them how we can do this,” Pandohie said. Last year, Serge produced approximately 6.5 million litres of milk, a yield significantly impacted by the drought. But a recent investment of $220 million in irrigation at the St Thomas-based dairy operation will allow the company to meet its target for 2016, Pandohie said. “In the meantime, the increase in production has come from having the ability to grow our feed ourselves,” he said, while also giving credit to the network of small farmers from whom the company purchases milk for the improved outlook. Milk production from the small
farmers has also gone up by 30-40 per cent this year so far, he said.
“A number of them have doubled their herd production because there seems to be a renewed interest in the dairy sector,” said Pandohie.
Serge is supplied with milk from several parishes, including St Elizabeth and St Catherine.
“That was the main reason for the increase,” he said.
But: “We can do so much more,” he added. “The industry just could not compete when the liberalisation of milk-powder happened. It shows you the opportunity that we have to get back to where we were,” he said.
HALFWAY BACK
The liberalisation happened more than two decades ago. Pandohie’s plan to get to 20 million litres of milk in four years would still put the industry halfway back to its 1994 performance when out hit 39 million litres.
Seprod’s own herds yield eight litres per cow per day, but that should increase to 11 litres per cow per day with improvements to the irrigation system, the company said.
Seprod also invested $15 million in its community farming programmes to enhance