BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture’s dairy services department, from January to October, raw milk production stood at 54,47 million litres, compared to 54,25 million litres recorded in the same period last year.
In the month of October, raw milk production increased by 4,9% to 5,89 million litres, compared to 5,62 million litres achieved in the same period last year

Retailed milk increased by 10,63% to 571,139 litres in October from 516 269 litres in the same month last year, while milk intake by processors increased by 4,31% to 5,32 million litres from 5,1 million litres.

In September, raw milk production was 5,72 million litres, compared to 5,58 million litres recorded in the same period last year.

In 2016, milk production increased by 13% to 65,36 million litres.

Government is targeting milk production to rise to between 97 million to 100 million litres per annum by 2019.

Presenting his 2018 National Budget last week, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said government’s command agriculture programme would next year focus on the dairy revitalisation programme, aquaculture, and livestock disease control to enhance the quality and size of the national herd, in order to guarantee self-sufficiency and secure export markets.

He also indicated that the dairy revitalisation programme was one of the successful private sector initiatives that has managed to restore the dairy industry that had almost collapsed without direct government support.

As such, drawing lessons from such initiatives, the National Budget will promote continuous engagement with the private sector with a view of identifying other areas where such initiatives could be replicated, taking cognisant of the current fiscal constraints.

Against this background, Chinamasa said the government has already removed import restrictions to allow private players with free funds to import such inputs as fertilisers and agro-chemicals in order to ensure adequate supply of inputs on the market.