Farmers’ management issues are the problem – Project Director
‘Main findings were farm management issues, delay in milk payments by collectors, issue of loan re-payment and cost of feeding’
The problems on the farms are due to management issues by the individual farmers, stressed the Rural Economy Ministry’s Project Director, Dr. Sagarika Sumanasekara, when contacted by the Sunday Times.
The expected outcome is there on farms which are being managed well, she said.
Here are the detailed questions of the Sunday Times and the Project Director’s answers. The Sunday Times is awaiting more answers to several follow-up questions, which have been promised this week.
Which ministry in Sri Lanka imported the cows? Was the Department of Animal Production and Health involved in all stages of this project? The Ministry of Rural Economy was the importer and the Department of Animal Production and Health provided related technical support including the post-import quarantine process, animal selection in New Zealand and Australia and supervision and continuous treatments through the provincial Departments of Animal Production and Health.
How was Wellard Rural Exports chosen to be the supplier of the cows under this project? Were tenders called from similar companies and the required process followed when selecting Wellard? What was the role of Wellard after the cows arrived in Sri Lanka?
It has been selected by the former Ministry of Livestock and Rural Community Development following tender procedures. Further Cabinet approval has been taken by the Ministry of Economic Development to use the same company for the new project, too. The role of Wellard after the cows arrived in Sri Lanka is to transport the animals to selected farms, provide technical guidance and advice for a successful farm operation, conduct training programmes, continuous monitoring of farms and assist in management problems. Close monitoring provided for six months. As this is a live operation, the success of the farm depends on the farm management including proper feeding, health and environment management.
What was the fee charged by Wellard? How was that fee paid? Who paid the fee?
Wellard charged USD 17.6Mn for the first phase to import 5,000 animals. Wellard was paid through the EFFIC/ Foreign Bank by the ERD (External Resources Dept. of the Ministry of Finance) with the recommendation of the ministry.
How much did the cows cost? How much did the Sri Lankan farmers pay and how much did the Sri Lankan government pay for each cow?
The cost of a cow is USD 3,032. The farmer paid a subsidized rate of Rs. 200,000/per cow and the government bore the balance sum of Rs. 267,000/- (according to the currency rate at the time of arrival). There are allegations that on the internet similar type of cows are being sold at a lesser amount, at almost half. Is this true? From whom did the SL Government buy the cows? SL bought the animals from Wellard through their supplier farms according to the requirements and health protocol provided by Sri Lanka.
Who selected the cows before impor
tation to Sri Lanka? Did a team from Sri Lanka go there? If so, how long did they stay there? What did the team checkout in the cows? Were medical certificates on the cows obtained? A team of five technical experts from Sri Lanka selected the animals and they spent 8 days to select the animals in Victoria, Australia.
(The answer to a follow-up question by the Sunday Times how each member of the technical team would have selected 75 cows per day, is being awaited.)
Was a quarantine process followed there and in Sri Lanka when the cows arrived here?
A. Yes. The pre-export quarantine process was done in an Australian quarantine farm and the post-export quarantine done in Sri Lanka by the quarantine unit of the Dept. of Animal Production and Health.
Were all the cows healthy and pregnant when they arrived on the private farms in Sri Lanka?
Yes. The animals require a certain period to adapt to the new environment after three weeks’ shipping. A few animals had aborted and those farmers were paid Rs. 50,000/- and they were impregnated after a certain period. Further, some animals were replaced due to certain defects caused during the quarantine period. These were not in the agreement, but it was done for the sake of farmers
Has there been an audit on this phase of the project? If so, what are the findings?
Main finding was the farm management issues, delay in milk payments by collectors, issue of loan re-payment and cost of feeding.
Many of the farmers are complain
ing of unhealthy animals being given to them and also that no technical support was forthcoming. They allege that they have incurred huge debts but the project has not yielded the expected outcomes. Please comment on these allegations.
Farmers were supplied healthy animals but due to management issues some animals were diseased. These are common diseases like mastitis purely caused due to bad environment management, tick fever etc. These are diseases in Sri Lanka. BVD virus was not present in any adult animals. There is a risk of having less than 2% in calves born, but that cannot be tested before birth so that can be tested after birth and if present these animals removed. The BVD antibody has been identified in Sri Lanka before these animals were imported.
The expected outcome is there in the farms which are managed well. To get the good profit from a dairy farm it will take more than three years. Initially (with capital expenditure) expenditure is higher than the income. But later on this will give a good profit with increasing milk yield by lactation, new born calves, sale of cow dung and other extra activities.
Will the next phase of the project be continued?
Not yet confirmed.
A comprehensive interview with the Technical Dairy Advisor & International Project Manager, Johann Wasserman of Wellard Rural Exports Pty Ltd., which was readily given to the Sunday Times when asked, will be published shortly. However, numerous attempts by the Sunday Times to get information from Foresight’s Project Engineer, P. Kumarage failed.