Dairy farmers registered with the Fiji Cooperative Dairy Company have acknowledged and welcomed the government’s recent initiatives and granted subsidies of $2 million to the dairy industry.

Waidalice dairy farmer Jovesa Madraitabua says it’s a wind of change considering the challenges faced by the dairy sector over the years.

He says the subsidy came at a great time, looking at the increasing cost of living, especially on feeds and fuels, and the struggle of investing in calf’s milk.

Madraitabua states that this is a great investment in improving and increasing dairy production, urging the government for more assistance.

“We are asking the government for more assistance as such because it will assist us as we try to improve the production of milk on our various farms. We rely on the government to assist us as we are struggling to try and improve from the two diseases that have affected our cows.”

The Chief Executive of Fiji Corporative Dairy Company Limited Kushmendra Prasad has also outlined ways to increase milk production.

“We have seen that our market is about 18 million liters of milk required; we are producing close to 11 million liters of milk, and the formal sector supplies close to 7 million liters of milk. There is huge potential and a huge market to fill, but the grant will help us get national milk production up within a couple of months and years’ time.”

More than 300 dairy farmers in the Central and Western divisions are expected to benefit from this subsidy assistance.