The Fiji Cooperative Dairy Company Limited (FCDCL) based at Manoca in Nausori continues with its efforts to boost milk production in Fiji and has been assisting the local dairy farmers with farm inputs together with technical and support services.
FCDCL is owned by the dairy farmers of Fiji and is operated as a commercial company with its own Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sachida Nand said that the company is responsible for the welfare and well-being of the dairy farmers and its primary focus is to be a self-sustaining entity within the next few years.
Mr Nand said the milk production trend at FCDCL registered farms has been increasing for the last three years and the company has set a target to produce 15 million liters in the near future.
He said last year the farmers produced 10,036,000 liters of milk which was an increase of 294,000 liters from the 9,742,000 liters produced in 2012. While in 2011, 9,613,000 liters of milk was produced.
There are 256 dairy farms registered under FCDCL from the Central Division and collectively they produce approximately 28,000 liters of milk daily.
Mr Nand added that increase in milk production was attributed to the hard work of the FCDCL farmers and the programmes introduced by the company.
“Despite the farmers having disease problems with their cows they have managed to do well and FCDCL is proud of their concerted efforts in trying to increase the milk production,” said Mr Nand.
“Last year we lost 350 milking cows that were infected with Brucellosis disease, so we have introduced artificial insemination as part of a new breeding programme that is expected to grow significantly within the next few years,” he added.
“The Artificial insemination is done to improve genetics in animals for better milk production.”
“Apart from improving the breeding programme, FCDCL advices farmers on farm practices such as dairy hygiene, animal husbandry, good management practices. The Dairy Advisory officers also do hoof trimming and dehorning at the farms,” said Mr Nand.
In addition, the company also procures and provides supplementary feed to the farmers at a low cost which is less than the market price.
Mill mix and copra meal are the most widely used feed ingredients in dairy industry and at the moment the supply of copra meal is not stable.
“Due to the uneven supply of copra meal locally we have begun importing palm kernel from Solomon Islands to substitute protein supply for the cows,” said Mr Nand.
“For the first time last year FCDCL imported more than 10 container loads of palm kernel from the Solomon Islands. Recently we have imported four container loads totaling 80 tonnes of palm kernel that will be made available to farmers cheaply so that there is a continuous supply of protein to the animals,” Mr Nand said.
“FCDCL is also in the process of establishing its own feed mill to ensure sustained supply of supplementary feed. This feed mill will be up and running by end of June 2014. Once this is done FCDCL will also be able to look after not only its farmers in the Central Division but also the dairy farmers in the Western Division which the current government has helped under its move west scheme,” Mr Nand said.
FCDCL also supplies other imported rations like calf milk replacer and supplement like dairy minerals at a subsidized cost to the farmers.
“Services to our farmers have improved a lot. FCDCL is also providing free pasture seeds to its farmers to encourage them to engage in pasture development. If the pasture is good then supplementary feed usage will be less and cows will have better production.”
“Some farmers have cows that give average of two liters of milk per day. This is despite having genetics similar to the cows in New Zealand where the cows produce about 30 to 35 liters of milk per day and our national average is five liters per cow,” said Mr Nand.
“It is not that we expect our farmers to produce 30 liters like the cows in New Zealand but at least we can produce average of 10 liters per day,” he said.
“This can only be done if the farmers have good management practices, provide adequate water, good pasture, fodder and supplementary feed to their cows. I encourage them to plant pastures like Siteria, sorghum, paragrass and also fodder crops.”
“Pasture development is one thing that seriously needs to be looked at in Fiji because most of the grass in the field at the moment is not good for the animals. A lot of farms have Navua sedge which is a weed in pasture,” said Mr Nand.
FCDCL has been providing free Signal, Siteria and Sorghum seeds to the farmers to develop the pastures to provide better feed to cows for good quantity of milk. They also monitor pasture growth on the farms.
“It’s not only important to increase the stock number but it’s vital to increase the production per animal. If a farmer has 10 cows producing 10 liters of milk per cow daily then he will have 100 liters of milk compared to keeping 20 cows producing 2 liters which will provide only 40 liters of milk per day. And to do all this, a farmer needs to know his animals well. The only way he can do is if he keeps good records. Therefore we can say that good record keeping is vital for being an effective dairy farmer,” said Mr Nand.
If farmers want to do some improvement on the farm they can also get short term loan from FCDCL at two percent interest rate for six months.
“Another service we provide to the farmers is revolving fund. Small amount of fund is set aside which is given to dairy farmers for their farm improvement. Farmers apply for this loan specifically for farm developments for example to buy new equipment, for fencing or pasture development. They take the loan and pay off within 6 months,” said Mr Nand.
FCDCL buys milk from these farmers at 78.3 cents for premium, 65.22 cents for first grade and 52.17 cents for second grade and sells it to Fiji Dairy Limited at 87 cents for premium, 73.91 cents for first grade and 60.87 cents for second grade.
“The price currently paid by the processor for the raw milk is not enough to cover the cost of producing the raw milk. Our farmers are struggling to make ends meet and this is one of the reasons why investments on the farms are so less. To encourage more investments and better production on the farm, we need to be paid at least $1.00 VEP per liter of milk. Only then will the industry and the production move forward,” Mr Nand said.
“The farms are in different categories, some are commercial farms with more than 200 milking cows and then we have farmers with about 4 to 5 cows only. There is huge difference between the biggest and the smallest farmer registered under FCDCL,” Mr Nand said.
Apart from the Cooperative, the Government through the Agriculture Ministry has also been assisting the farmers.
Under the dairy development program the Government has provided $1m grant to FCDCL for improving services, infrastructure and facilities to benefit the dairy farmers with the ultimate goal of developing the industry and increasing the raw milk production.
FCDCL works together with the Locality Livestock Officers from the Ministry of Agriculture in providing services to the farmers such as health issues.
The FCDCL is optimistic that, with their services together with the assistance from the Government and most importantly with efforts from the farmers, milk production in the country is bound to increase which will eventually fulfill the local demand and reduce imports.
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