AIDA delegation meets Agriculture Minister
A delegation representing All Island Dairy Association (AIDA) President/ Shawwallace Ceylon Ltd and Richlife Dairies (Pvt.) Ltd CEO Nishantha Jayasooriya and AIDA Vice President/ Watawala Dairies (Pvt.) Ltd and Watawala Plantation PLC CEO Binesh Pananwala met Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamag, recently.
They were joined by the committee members Asoka Bandara of Maliban Milk Products (Pvt.) Ltd, R.M.K.G. Rajapaksha of Hypromac Engineering Services, Dr. Nelum Vithana of Kothmale Holdings PLC, Keerthi Gunasekara of Cargills Quality Dairies (Pvt.) Ltd, Shun Tien Shing of Ceylon Agro Industries (Pvt.) Ltd, Dr. Shakthivale of Lanka Milk Foods (Pvt.) Ltd, Dr. Keerthi Gunasekara of Ronasco (Pvt.) Ltd, AIDA Consultant Chithral Munaweera and Shehara de Silva of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
In a bid to initiate a national policy for the dairy sector of Sri Lanka, the delegation expressed the interest of formulating a public-private stakeholder committee for the initiative. As such, the delegation explained the gaps identify in the sector with regard to the lack of animal feed and nutrients and the necessitate development of fodder cultivation in the country.
Although the president of Sri Lanka has set a national goal of self-sufficiency in milk production, there are other elements of government policy and organisation that obstruct growth and sustainability. Restrictions on land and water utilisation for forage crops is seen as a serious limiting factor to meet the nutritional demands of the dairy cows to increase the quantity and quality of milk production.
Therefore, support is required through a policy for the industry to include animal feed crops as approved crops and permitting access to land and irrigation for these crops. During the discussion, Jayasooriya handed over the proposal on fodder crop cultivation in Sri Lanka to Aluthgamage. Aluthgamage expressed his views on uplifting the dairy sector should be accelerated with a shared vision of the public and private sectors. Jayasooriya highlighted that there is general consensus on the problems of high-quality fodder production and on the solutions but there is little coordination to implement these solutions. In order to mitigate the challenges to improve the availability of animal feed in the country, a holistic approach is required, he concluded.
The AIDA was formed under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, fulfilling a long felt need for an organised trade body to facilitate deliberations on matters relevant to the dairy sector in February 2017. The association was incorporated in May 2018 as a company limited by guarantee, registered under the provisions of the Companies Act No 7 of 2007.
The prime objective of the association is to serve as the central forum for consensus building amongst all key stakeholders in the industry and facilitate policy advocacy on issues pertaining to the dairy industry and work towards developing the local dairy industry as a key sector of the national economy.
Promotion of high standards of business conduct in relation to all aspects of t he dairy i ndustry and improving the competitiveness of the local dairy industry in the marketplace are two specific objectives of the dairy association.