Lower milk output from Sri Lankan cows than foreign cows
The Pelwatte Dairy Industries Ltd located in Buttala in the Uva Province takes around eight hours by coach to reach there from Colombo during a visit by a media team to learn many facets of milk production by Pelwatte Industries under difficult conditions. Production Manager of the Pelwatte Dairy Industries Ltd, Prabash Liyana Pathirana explained in detail the whole process of milk production at the industry. He said the biggest challenge they face is to preserve the milk collected from cows before being contaminated by microorganism found in the milk itself.
The milk collected by farmers from their respective collecting centres in many parts of the country is then dispatched to the Buttala Pelwatte facility to be processed for the manufacture of powdered milk and other related products such as yoghurt and cheese.
As milk is a perishable commodity it has to be processed within 24 hours. Local cows do not provide more than 3-4 litres of milk per day when compared to cows in foreign countries that give 65-70 litres of milk per day.
When a calf is born a cow provides milk for about 300 days and thereafter it stops giving away milk. Strict health guidelines have been issued to farmers to follow protocols while milking their cows and to keep milk refrigerated before
being sent to the Pelwatte facility. There are 38 refrigerating centres set up in milk collecting areas at a great cost to preserve milk from contamination.
Microorganisms thrive in milk at temperatures of 37-38 centigrade no sooner the cows are milked. Collected milk has to be refrigerated within two hours to prevent contamination. Microorganism does not act in cooled temperatures when the temperatures are low at 4 centigrade. But they remain dormant in milk. Once the milk arrives at Pelwatte it is tested at the laboratory to ensure purity of the milk following cooling. The milk is then loaded into tanks for production purposes after filtering it in1000 micron filters to prevent any other substance entering the plant. The persons who man rural collecting centres in the provinces with their experience are knowledgeable and able to ascertain the quality and purity of milk before being dispatched to Pelwatte in bowsers. At the Pelwatte laboratory the milk is subjected to stringent tests to determine its composition. When composition falls below the mark due to addition of excess water into milk, it is rejected forthwith and turned away.
Mr. Pathirana said that Pelwatte has the capacity to produce 30 metric tonnes of milk powder for a month. However due to lack of fresh milk the operation has been hampered and three plants remain idle. Pelwatte has produced more than 200,000 metric tonnes of milk of the total 1.2 million metric tonnes milk requirement of the country for a month.
He is of the opinion that the state is dragging its feet when dealing with the milk industry. This industry has become inept as there is no proper plan to boost the milk industry in the country. Although there are vast acres of grassland in rural areas there are no cattle to be found. Pelwatte has produced 45 metric tonnes of butter for a month and two million cups of yoghurt. Plans are afoot to increase its production to 4 million cups of yogurt. Referring to imported cattle breeds such as Friesian cattle, he said the animals find it difficult to adapt to climatic conditions of the country and most animals have died.
“We produce a lot of ice cream per month. The butter is supplied to most hotels in the country. We produced 14 metric tonnes of milk powder last month. We also collected a lot of milk last month but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the collection has dropped,” he said. The media team also visited the cattle farm of the Pelwatte Milk company and witnessed cows being milked by a mechanical process.