Fueling Innovation
In Maligawila in Monaragala, members of a women’s society are on an exposure visit conducted by the area veterinary officer regarding rearing dairy cattle. The group is visiting the farm belonging to Saranga Rajasinghe, a paddy and chena farmer who is now combining agriculture with dairy as his main sources of livelihood. “I started rearing one cow and gradually increased the number to twelve cows,” says Saranga. “I decided to focus more on dairy because it has low risk and a stable income compared to agriculture which is unpredictable and dependent on the weather condition. When there is no rain, we face many problems and when there is very heavy rain too, our cultivations are destroyed.”
Rearing cattle happened by chance for Saranga who was persuaded by a relative to take it up. Due to the lack of experience and the high initial investment cost, Saranga would let his cows roam freely for most of the day, grazing in open fields. In 2015 Saranga was provided financial support under the European Union Support to District Development Programme (EU-SDDP), to construct a shed for his cows with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Department of Animal Production and Health.
He was also provided fodder cuttings (CO3) to establish a fodder unit and technical training on semi-intensive dairy management techniques including night feeding. “There is a change in the quantity of milk I get from a cow,” observes Saranga. “Earlier a cow would produce 2 to 3 liters once a day. But now with continuous water and feeding in the cattle shed, I can milk a cow twice a day, in the morning and evening. The milk quantity has increased to 10 liters from a cow.”
This change has not gone unnoticed by neighboring smallholder dairy farmers and aspiring dairy farmers. Regular exposure visits conducted by veterinary officers to Saranga’s dairy model has been a great source of motivation for him.
Recognizing his potential, an NGO provided Saranga a grass chopper while he also received a milking machine from FAO. “We had never seen these machines before. With the grass chopper, I can cut the grass quickly and there is less wastage than cutting by hand.”
He also uses the manure for the crops, makes compost and sells bags of organic manure to neighbors. A simple and efficient bio-gas digester has been installed to provide necessary gas for the kitchen as well as energy to light a few bulbs in the house. This green technology has made life easier for Saranga’s mother, Ariyawathi who can now spend less time cooking and more time for other productive activities and for herself. She says, “before I spent 30 minutes to cook my curry, and now I can just do it in 15 minutes”.
Saranga is one of 60 smallholder dairy farmers in the Monaragala district who are supported by FAO under the EU-SDDP to increase milk production through a semi-intensive management method in maintaining their cattle. Within the framework of the EU-SDDP, FAO aims at increasing income generation among rural population by supporting agriculture, livestock and fishery economic activities, and rehabilitating productive infrastructure to enhance sustainable and profitable livelihoods.