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Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Ministry’s chief dairy officer Mrs Tendai Marecha has said milk production has risen from 3,6 million litres a month to 4,6 million litres.
“Milk production has surged by 11 percent, since more farmers can now afford restocking. We now have more milk producers compared to those we had in 2008,” she said.
Mrs Marecha was addressing the National Dairy Farmers of Zimbabwe annual general meeting held in Harare on Tuesday.
Milk production had over the past decade plummeted to one million litres per month owing to high production costs and shortage of spare parts.
Mrs Marecha also attributed the high milk output to training of diary farmers by stakeholders in the sector.
“New farmers are improving their operations and we will continue to offer them necessary training.”
She added “dairy farmers are also gaining confidence.”
Meanwhile, dairy farmers have appealed to the Government to support the sector.
“Government should avail funding to us like they do to crops like maize. We cannot access loans from banks,” said Mrs Laiza Moyo from Umuzingwane district in Matabeland South province.
Gweru farmer, Mrs Bernadette Wabata concurred with Mrs Moyo, saying Government should ensure continuous supply of electricity.
“If we use generators with diesel averaging US0,40 per litre, we cannot recoup production costs,” she said. – New Ziana.
Online Reporter