Precious Manomano — Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT and private sector initiatives continue to bear fruit with milk production rising by 21 percent from 38 million litres between January and May 2023 to 46 million litres in the comparable period this year.
Statistics released by the Dairy Services Unit (DSU) recently showed that milk production for the first five months of the year rose from 38 001 810 to 45 846 281 litres.
The month of May saw a 21 percent increase from 7 868 470 last year to 9 498 262 litres this year.
This year's milk production has been on a month-on-month increase from February to date.
The national dairy herd rose 13, 4 percent from 53 250 in 2022 to 60 398 in 2023. On the other hand, the milking herd stood at 39 811 in 2023.
This literally shows that the industry has surpassed the 2025 target of a total dairy herd of 60 000 and 38 000 milking cows.
Zimbabwe Association of Dairy Farmers (ZADF) national chairman, Mr Edward Warambwa attributed the rise to an increase in milking cows due to previous investments targeted at herd growth.
"There has been a significant contribution to milk output from new entrants into the industry coupled with continuous improvements by existing farmers from efficient management. "Most farmers are adopting cost effective ways of maximising milk yields by paying utmost attention to lowering feed expenditure," the ZADF chair said.
Technically most dairy breeds favour cool weather conditions. It therefore follows that milk yields tend to increase in winter when animals do not suffer from heat stress.
ZADF anticipated a 13 percent increase in milk production from 100 million litres in 2023 to about 113 million litres in 2024, though they would have wanted a much higher growth, were it not for the El Nino-inspired drought of this season.
Mr Warambwa said: "The El Nino drought seriously affected yields for on-farm grown feeds with small and medium-scale farmers hardly hit.
"The need to purchase expensive dairy feed to supplement the deteriorating pastures will significantly compromise milk yields and profitability especially for small and medium-scale farmers, as they rely on dryland pastures."
For farmers with irrigation and relying on other feeding options the drought impact will be minimal though production for the months of June to September might increase at a slower rate than what would have been expected without the El Nino drought, he said.
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However, due to expected La Nina weather conditions this coming summer season milk production will most likely peak in the last quarter of the year.
He added that more work still needed to be done to improve the regular milk yield across all sectors from the current average of 13 litres per cow per day to 16 by 2025.
Dairy farmers allege they are still suffering from perennial challenges such as high cost of compliance, suppressed producer prices due to economic dynamics, dilapidating infrastructure, erratic power supply, lack of mechanisation and tailor-made dairy funding, all affecting potential milk output.
To alleviate some of the challenges, ZADF is training farmers to improve dairy practices such as clean milk production, proper usage of drugs and detergents. In collaborations with other stakeholders ZADF is also offering training on udder health management, which is key in enhancing milk quality.
ZADF is encouraging the adoption of cost-effective feed options that contain a balanced diet required for quality milk production.
