By Joshua Kato
According to experts, the 20 billion milk production target per year, set by the government can be achieved if certain measures are set in place.
During the 18th African Dairy Conference and Exhibition, Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) pointed out that the government is targeting 20 billion litres of milk soon.
“The President (Museveni) has tasked us to pursue a target of 20 billion litres in the next few years,” Tumwebaze said.
The minister is hopeful that this can be achieved if the current level of adoption of better practices is maintained. At the moment according to the minister, Uganda produces about 3.85 billion litres of milk per day.
Tumwebaze said that the emerging opportunities for example in North and West Africa, Europe and Asia call for an increase in production of not just quantities but also quality.
“We must continue innovating at an even faster rate than we are doing now. We must ensure that farmers are motivated to produce more by providing markets but also sensitizing them to adopt smart farming,” he said.
He called upon the sector regulators not to use prohibitive regulation to run the sector, but adopt pro-active measures.
According to Dr Hamid Rutaro, the Technical Manager for URUS, Africa, who was also one of the exhibitors and delegates at the conference, the 20 billion litres are actually achievable.
URUS is a multinational group that is engaged in the dissemination of livestock genetics.
“We need at least 2.7 million improved dairy cows, each producing an average of 20 litres per day to achieve this target,” he says.
At the moment, there are about 15 million cows in the country, out of which 1.7 million are improved dairy cows.
“However because of poor genetics, the average production of milk is 5 litres per cow,” Rutaro says.
However, he says that dairy farmers are gradually adopting improved genetics.
“We started sensitizing farmers and artificial inseminators to the value of using good semen. The uptake is good. Slowly by slowly, the production will go up. We already have cows producing at least 25 litres per day. Gradually, we shall have the numbers,” he said.
