According to Asia Economy, the government will be looking into importing dairy cows as milk production was affected due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
On 10 February, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced this measure to stabilize the milk supply, as they expected the production of raw milk to decrease. Money Today reported that the dairy industry responded positively to this measure as it would somewhat help to alleviate the situation.
Last year, 12% of dairy cows were culled after the foot-and-mouth outbreak in November, which adversely affected the production of milk. This raised concerns about public outbursts that may arise due to potential milk shortage. Furthermore, the school milk program will be starting in March, which would further compound the milk shortage problem.
It is anticipated that the production of raw milk this year would be roughly 2,340,000 tons short of last year's supply. The government plans to import about 1,260 tons of powdered milk from March to April, and is currently pushing for 9,000 tons of customs-free powdered milk to be introduced in the early half of this year.
In case the foot-and-mouth disease situation worsens, they are also considering to import dairy cows as a short-term solution.
Translated by Kaye Lam
No comments:
Post a Comment