Govt. to give over 2, 700 acres of State land to private investors to develop commercial dairy farms

• 4, 200 milch cows to be imported; aims at boosting annual liquid milk output by 22mn litres 
• Total investment by the five private investors estimated at Rs.8.2bn

By Nishel Fernando
As Sri Lanka pursues the goal of reaching self-sufficiency in milk by 2024, the government has awarded 2, 771 acres of State land to private investors, while granting approval to import 4, 200 milch cows to boost annual liquid milk production by 22 million liters with an estimated investment of Rs.8.2 billion.

The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved a proposal presented by Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage to provide unused land parcels belonging to the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) and other State-ownedentities tobe developed as modern dairy farms on a 30-year lease basis to investors selected through a procurement process launched 
by the Board of Investment (BOI).

Accordingly, 700 acres of Nikaweratiya farm belonging to NLDB will be awarded to H.B.K.I.R. International/ Access Agro (Pvt.) Ltd.,and further 60 acres of the farm-landwill be given to Pesara Logistics Institute on a 30-year lease basis.

A land parcel to the extend of 811 acres belonging to Galabodawaththa Estate and Mount Jean Estate of Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) will be awarded to Farm’s Pride (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Crysbro Group on a 30-year lease basis.

Meanwhile, Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd, the sole franchisee for Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in Sri Lanka, owned by India-based Sapphire Foods,will get 250 acres from Kottukachchiya farm belonging to NLDB on a 30-year lease basis.

Further, Hillside Agro (Pvt.) Ltd also will be given 200 acres and 150 acres respectively from Delthota Estate and Grate Valley, belonging to the JEDB.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet media briefing yesterday, Aluthgamage outlined that these five firms were also granted approval to import 4, 200 milch cows, and the cattle population in these farms are expected to grow to 25,000 in five years.

According to him, the five investors, which includes one foreign investor, are expected to make a combined investment of Rs. 8.2 billion to realise the objective of producing 22 million liters of liquid milk per annum.

The minister highlighted that lack of required feed as the main reason for the county’s failure in becoming self-sufficient in dairy, while noting that a large farm with 1, 000 cow requires 45 tonnes of feed to generate expected results. 

Although, the country’s requirement of milk is estimated at 722 million liters per annum, the current local supply remains at around 422 litres, catering to only 40 percent of the demand. Therefore, he pointed out that Sri Lanka exhausts US$ 365 million on dairy imports per annum, mostly importing powdered milk products.

However, he expressed his confidence of the government’s goal to be self-sufficient in liquid milk by 2024.