President Anura Kumara Dissanayake convened a high-level meeting yesterday (03) at the Presidential Secretariat with senior officials of the Agriculture Ministry to discuss strategies for revitalising Sri Lanka’s local dairy industry. The discussion concentrated on transforming MILCO and the National Livestock Development Board into productive and efficient enterprises capable of fulfilling the country’s domestic dairy demand.
The President underscored the urgent need to reduce production costs and fully utilise existing resources to develop a market-driven, sustainable and efficient dairy sector. He stressed that these efforts should aim at reducing reliance on imports and boosting self-sufficiency in milk production.
Officials from MILCO reported that the company had recorded a notable increase in production capacity in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in the previous year, indicating early signs of improvement in the sector.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation K.D. Lalkantha, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Additional Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry Dr. Palika Fernando, MILCO Chairman G.V.H. Gotabhaya, National Livestock Development Board Chairman Dr. B.C.S. Perera and other senior officials from relevant institutions under the Agriculture Ministry.
