Milky dream turns sour
Farmers who imported pregnant heifers through govt face huge debts; blame the authorities over broken promises; and allege corruption
The project was the first step towards making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in fresh milk and reducing the dependence on powdered milk. Many were the traditional dairy farmers and also entrepreneurs who were lured by full-page advertisements with the slogan ‘Highyielding imported pregnant cows’ placed by the Rural Economy Ministry.
This was two years ago. Fast forward to 2019 and all those who invested huge amounts of money in this project have hit the depths of despair.
Many of them are drowning in debt, with some even mortgaging their personal assets and a few contemplating taking their own lives, while they have seen their cows die before their very eyes. Broken promises are what they face, they say, with even the price they were offered for the milk not materialising.
The dream of contributing to the dairy industry and the development of the country has evaporated, embroiling them in a living nightmare, many farmers lament, alleging serious lapses and corruption on the part of those involved in implementing the project.
Appeals and requests have not yielded any results, just adding to the ‘souring’ of the milky dream and they are vociferous, personally to the Sunday Times and at a media briefing held by the Ceylon Cattle Farmers’ Federation (C2F2) at the BMICH in Colombo on Thursday afternoon with the participation of around 25 farmers. (Please see box and map for project details)
Soon after the media briefing, around 4.30 p.m., the farmers handed over a thick file with all the documentation to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate Corruption and Fraud Allegedly Committed in State Institutions, at the BMICH, said farmer Amal Suriyage of the Lammermoor Estate in the Nuwara Eliya district who had bought 200 cows, of whom 55 are now dead.
Mr. Suriyage alleged that 15 of the 21 clauses in the contract between Wellard Rural Exports Pty Ltd. Australia and the Economic Development Ministry of Sri Lanka had not been fulfilled, but declined to provide a copy of the contract on the grounds that he was planning to go to court. He also alleged that some of the essential information with regard to the cows, such as quarantine procedures carried out in Australia before the cows were shipped and in Sri Lanka after they arrived here, which was their right to know had to be obtained through numerous applications under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.
The issues highlighted by the farmers include:
Of the 67 farmers who bought the dairy cows under Phase I and II, 5% have closed down their farms -- but this will increase to 20-25% soon.
Of the 3,000 cows bought by them under
Phase II, 19% have died.
The farmers and the government paid a very high price for the cows which were unhealthy and not of an expected standard, whereas such cows are being sold cheaper on the internet.
The quarantine procedures have not
been transparent.
Although, the promise was that the cows would be pregnant having been artificially inseminated before importation, some of them were not, while others had aborted during the long shipment time and also while being transported tightly-packed in small lorries once they landed in Trincomalee.
The cows are afflicted with deadly diseases such as Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD), Mycoplasma, Salmonella Dublin and Heifer Mastitis.
The technical support required by the farmers when constructing the cowsheds and during calving was not given. The yield of milk promised did not pan out, neither did the milk price promised – 12% of the cows do not give milk.
The selected cows did not suit the climat-
ic conditions of Sri Lanka.
The cost of feed was becoming a killer, with no proper income from milk production.
A traditional dairy farmer who had been having a successful business before he welcomed 16 rata saththu into the fold, Saman Kumara from Kuliyapitiya in the Kurunegala district, laments with emotion that the imported cows have destroyed his livelihood.
“Of the 16 imported cows, four are dead and one is sick. Saththu kora gagaha thama genawe. (The animals were limping when brought.) They have also not given
the promised milk yield,” says Mr. Kumara, pointing out that he has spent a lot of money on medicines. “Api asarana wela inne, ape pavula vinasha vela.” (We have hit rock-bottom and our family has been destroyed.)
Another traditional dairy farmer, Angappan Angamuttu from the Rothers A Farm in the Nuwara Eliya district who got 150 imported cows, having sold off his own local cows, was adamant that even though he bought the imports for Rs. 200,000 each, now he cannot even sell one for Rs. 35,000. They are not worth 5 cents.
If the cows lactated properly then there would not be any problems and the project would have been a success, he says, explaining that the cows have a lot of health problems.
Earlier, woman farmer, Mahesha Wijesooriya of the Nikakotuwa Farms in the Matale district who got 50 cows (eight have died so far) who was the first to bring the grievances of the farmers to the Sunday Times said the authorities and companies involved in the project were very helpful and understanding at the beginning because the project was new, but now even to get a little thing done they will say we have to pay beforehand.
“We continued for about four months initially, but it went downhill from there. At no point did we get a profit or breakeven,” she said.
For Eranga Nihan of Agasas Holdings from the Kandy district who purchased 40 animals, his business has collapsed and he has been forced to sell off all of them.
Why didn’t the government import cows from a country such as India, but opt for Australia and New Zealand, the climate of which does not suit Sri Lanka, he queried. “The government didn’t force the cattle on the farmers, we took them willingly, trusting the government not to ruin our livelihoods.”
Mr. Suriyage, meanwhile, added that even though the contract clearly mentioned that if a cow is not up to standard, it would be replaced within 90 days, most farmers were not aware of this crucial point, as the authorities had failed to tell them so.
He strongly rejected counter allegations by both the ministry and Wellard that the farmers were not feeding and maintaining the animals, stressing that even if the family starved they fed the cows.
Pointing out that poster- eating road cows would have been better than the cows the government has imported, Mr. Suriyage alleged at the media briefing that there was corruption.
“We want to expose the culprits, we are the victims,” he added.