Milk Production in Sri Lanka

D.V.S de S Gamage
Former Deputy Director, Veterinary Research Institute, Sri Lanka
The agriculture sector in Sri Lanka is strongly dominated by rice and then the other field
crops, where livestock gets the last priority. Livestock production, particularly in the context
of an agrarian structure dominated by smallholder farms, offers the opportunity to have
efficiency gains in a crop-livestock production system, through further development of the
integrated farming system. Furthermore, there is ample scope to increase animal production
because of prospects of population increase, per capita income growth and increasing tourist
arrivals. In general, production of animal origin food has increased (Table 1).
Table 1: Animal Production Sector Growth from 1970 to 2013
Product Broiler Egg Milk Pork Beef Mutton
Total growth 640% 469% 130% 48% -22% -48%
Annual growth 14.6% 10.7% 3.0% 1.1% -0.5% -1.1%
Livestock plays and important part in the crop-livestock farming system as a food, income
and as a risk reduction strategy. This group maintains 95% of the ruminant population.
Table 2: Ruminant Population changes from 1970 to 2013
Cattle Buffalo Goat
1970 2013 1970 2013 1970 2013
1,593,306 1,169,040 735,708 380,760 556,362 331,150
Growth -26.6% Growth -48.3% Growth -40.5%
FAOSTAT Date: Wed Jan 20 17:05:18 CET 2016
Milk consumption was introduced on a regular basis after the advent of colonial rulers. Since
then successive governments have established supporting systems required for the viable
growth of a milk industry. However, the supply of milk has not kept pace with the steady
growth in demand. Smallholdings of 1.8 million utilize 75% of agricultural land in Sri Lanka,
where 90% are below two hectares. A third of these are mixed farming of crop and livestock.
A proportion of 30-60% income is generated from these smallholder livestock activities.
Table 3: Farm Data from the Dry zone of Sri Lanka
Crossbred milking Farm Crossbred cows Total Milk Aver. Milk (lts)/ Percent Percent cows Percent milk
cows / farm number in milk (lts) cow/day farms in milk production

Below 5 40,853 83,730 233,842 2.79 86.1% 48.0% 58.3%

5 to 10 3,801 29,336 61,857 2.11 8.0% 16.8% 15.4%
10 to 15 1,158 15,221 26,757 1.76 2.4% 8.7% 6.7%
16 to 20 635 11,853 21,307 1.80 1.3% 6.8% 5.3%
Above 20 1,023 34,409 57,190 1.66 2.2% 19.7% 14.3%
Average 47,470 174,549 400,953 2.30 Aver. no of cows / farm 3.7
Farm registration 2008, Department of Animal Production & Health
Table 4: Farm Data from the Wet and Intermediate zones of Sri Lanka
Crossbred milking Farm Crossbred Total Aver. Milk (lts) per Percent Percent cows Percent milk
cows / farm number cows in milk Milk (lts) cow per day farms in milk production

Below 5 33,905 54,807 286,201 5.22 96.58% 83.46% 90.18%

5 to 10 985 7,149 21,333 2.98 2.81% 10.89% 6.72%
10 to 15 142 1,800 4,992 2.77 0.40% 2.74% 1.57%
16 to 20 34 601 1,424 2.37 0.10% 0.92% 0.45%
Above 20 41 1,308 3,412 2.61 0.12% 1.99% 1.08%
Average 35,107 65,665 317,362 4.83 Aver. No of cows / farm 1.9
Farm registration 2008, Department of Animal Production & Health

The average milk production gradually decreases with the increase in the number of cows per
farm. This may be due to the non-availability of sufficient feed. A major portion of ruminant
feed is poor quality annual and perennial grass, browsing vegetation, nonfood biomass from
paddy, maize and other crops. Rice straw, even though seasonal, is the most abundantly
available crop residue. Farmers offer this as the main roughage source for their animals.
Overview: In the DZ crop production is initiated with the rains and harvested at the end of
the season, but animal products are produced throughout the year, without seasonal
restrictions. However, past studies have highlighted that there is seasonal variation in the
national milk collection and production.
Challenge faced/critical points: Data indicates that milk collection and production in the
rainy season is lower than in the dry season as shown in figure 1. This is contradictory to the
fact that it should be higher owing to the abundance of fresh grass for ruminants. Therefore,
the reason for this contradiction needs to be explored to provide any viable solution.
Figure 1: Milk Production and Soil moisture
Plenty
Plenty of
of
Very
Very dry
dry no
no grass
grass with
with
grass
grass but
but rain
rain but
but
more
more milk
milk less
less milk
milk

Hence, studying the DZ farming system indicates that paddy and crop cultivation during the
rainy period is the first priority of DZ mixed farmers. This limits the farmers’ resources
allocated for their grazing herds. Hence, they are compelled to relocate in areas outside the
cropping land during this period depriving livestock from adequate feed and water. This has a
marked impact on their body physiological status, and also disrupts the collection of milk, as
these remote areas fall beyond the normal milk procurement routes.
Chart 1: Feeding Calendar of Livestock in the Dry Zone
Month Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Jul Aug Sep

Land Maha season - 100% cultivable land Yala season - 55% cultivable land

Cultivation Rice planting and growing Rice harvest Rice planting and growing Rice harvest

Cattle Restricted
Restricted grazing in uncultivated dry
movement grazing in Migration to inaccessible / marginal lands Village
crop land
Village

Grazing in
Restricted Restricted
Grazing Stubble consumption in overgrazed pasture Grazing in uncultivated uncultivated dry crop
grazing crop grazing crop
area land moist crop land land and water
land land
shortage

Residue Depleted amounts of

Crop Crop residue
usage Grass and fodder residue wasted in Crop residue crop residue Crop residue
residue available for
crop cultivation area wasted available for wasted
wasted consumption
consumption

Std week 40-43 44-47 48-52 1-4 5-8 9-12 13-17 18-19 21 22-25 26-30 31-34 35-39
Sunil Gamage
However, when the animals are brought back to the farming areas after crop harvest, they
have access to crop residues and ample supply of water. This results in a significant increase
in milk production than in the cropping season. Furthermore, milk collection is normalized.
Solutions tested: Paddy yields 6 million m.tons of Dry Matter (DM) per hectare annually
through rice straw. However, a large portion of residues is burned and wasted. Rice straw
utilization as a ruminant feed is not new to Sri Lanka. Interventions introduced to improve the
quality of these crop-residues to the mixed farms have not been successful as expected.
Table 5: Demand for crop residue by milking cows in the Dry Zone
Type Number Total Animal Units Annual DM need for body maintenance (M.tons)
Cattle 928,070 832,278 1,831,012
Buffalo 218959 260,024 572,052
Goat 224,452 22,024 48,453
    1,114,326  2,751,517
Demand Million m.tons 2.752
However, DZ can have more animals with higher production with DM availability from crop
residue from areas not utilized for crop production as shown in Table 6.
Table 6: Land use – Dry Zone dry matter availability
No Category Hectares DM (M.tons) % Usage DM availability for
possible livestock (M.tons)
1 Paddy 652,900 5,712,875 50% 3,839,063
2 Un-irrigated highland 325,000 325,000 40% 130,000
3 Villus 50,000 200,000 30% 60,000
4 Herbage from grazing land 120,000 120,000 80% 96,000
5 Grassland 27,400 27,400 60% 16,440
6 Scrub 886,600 1,329,900 20% 265,980
Total 4,536,100 13,517,975 4,407,483
Impact needs to be generated: Today’s need is to increase milk production as soon as
possible through a much larger crossbred population.
Table 7: Crossbred cattle population
Type DZ Wet and Intermediate zones
European crosses 15.3% 51.1%
Indian crosses 17.7% 16.4%
Local types 67.0% 32.5%
Ref: DAPH 2008
Identify key management practices for these losses:
 Policy makers continue modes of interventions that have not had much success lately.
 Practice of extensive system of management causing loss of energy due to movement.
 Non-accountability of the government livestock extension system.
Key lessons learned and next steps:
 Seasonality of availability of feed and need to improve its shelf life.
 Interventions introduced to improve the quality of these crop-residues are not generally
practiced by farmers.
 The dry zone ruminant management system is traditionally for meat.
 Starvation and water deprivation have a marked effect on body physiology of crossbred
growing cattle in a larger way and adults in a smaller way.
 A loss of around 8 million m.tons of edible crop-residue, burnt causing emission of GHG.
 Stray cattle in cropping areas can cause conflicts between farmers
 Difficulties of women headed families to graze cattle in the extensive system
Conclusion:
 The rapid transformation of the traditional ruminant management system is urgently
needed to meet the current demand for milk.
 Promoting an industry to manufacture dry pellets or blocks, from total mixed ration made
of paddy straw and incorporated other feed ingredients, not only increases shelf life of
crop residue but also be a rural enterprise.
 A major limitation is that the government extension service is unable to bridge the gap
between farmer expectations and services provided.