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Agriculture Reporter
THE dairy industry is already benefitting from the strategy of using locally available resources to contain costs of production with the Government partnering the private sector to produce on-farm feed formulations to cut the costs of feeds.
The costs of feeds alone constitute 70 percent of the total dairy costs of production, hence the need to embrace on farm feed formulations that are accessible at a low cost.
Speaking at the Denfarm pasture and mechanisation field day in Kwekwe Midlands province, Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Vangelis Haritatos described the model as sustainable saying use of high protein on farm feed formulations will reduce the cost of feeds by 50 percent.
On-farm feed formulations and fodder production are key in sustaining dairy farming enterprises.
“This field day by Denfarm and the Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers provides a practical learning opportunity for other dairy farmers and stakeholders to appreciate efficient, innovative and sustainable dairy farming system,” said Haritatos.
The dairy sector has significantly contributed to agricultural transformation.
Dep Min Haritatos added: “We are gathered here to witness how Dendairy, Denfarm and partners have invested in this efficient, cost-effective and profitable agribusiness venture, and how such initiatives have seen the dairy sector recording an average growth of 17 percent in the first three quarters of 2022 compared to with the same period in 2021.”
To complement this, the Government has lined a number of programmes to assist dairy farmers ranging from the Presidential silage input scheme for small-scale dairy farmers and the National Enhanced Agriculture productivity scheme silage programme for medium and large-scale producers through encouraging investments in artificial insemination.
In addition, Dep Min Haritatos said the focus for all dairy value chain actors was on rebuilding the large, medium and smallholder dairy sectors and assured attendees that Government would continue to support the dairy industry operations and developments.
“The Government continues to support the dairy industry in meeting the national demand of 120 million litres and positioning the sector to produce for the export market too,” he said.
The dairy sector has been experiencing slow growth in both animal numbers and milk production in the last decade.
“This initiative is expected to bolster national milk supply by increasing milk production from 18 litres per cow to 20 litres daily,” said Dep Min Haritatos.
Online Reporter