• Cabinet to be notified by Agri Min. on increased production 

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera is to inform the Cabinet of Ministers of a request made by private and State-owned dairy companies to suspend the import of milk powder.

A meeting was held between the Minister and officials of Milco Private Ltd., the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB), and Pelwatte Dairy Industries Ltd. to discuss the current situation with regard to local milk production.

During the meeting, Milco and NLDB officials said that they had produced 2,599,617 and 19,152,766 litres of milk, respectively, during the past six months. According to them, the production of milk during the said period has seen an increase of 30% compared to that of the same period last year (2022).

Pelwatte Dairy Industries officials said that their warehouses produce 500 metric tonnes (MT) of full cream milk powder with local liquid milk. They emphasised that despite increased milk production, the Government’s decision to allow milk powder imports has made it difficult for them to sell their products.

The officials of the said institutions requested Amaraweera to suspend the import of milk powder due to the higher level of local production. In response to the request, the Minister said that he would present a detailed report on local milk production to the Cabinet and that a decision would then be made regarding the companies’ request.

Sri Lanka spends approximately $400 million annually on milk powder imports, leading to a significant drain of foreign exchange. As a result, the Government has prioritised efforts to boost domestic milk production to reduce reliance on imports. Consequently, milk powder imports were reduced to a large extent during the economic crisis that emerged in the country during the past few years.