Milk production up 14 percent

Zimbabwe’s raw milk production in the nine months to September is up 14 percent to 48.6 million litres, according to Ministry of Agriculture figures.

The country produced 42.6 million litres over the same period in 2015.

According to latest figures from the Ministry of Agriculture’s dairy services department, intake by processors between January and September was 43.5 million litres.

The industry has a production target of 100 million litres annually by 2019 while the country’s milk requirement is estimated at 120 million litres.

The dairy industry is operating at about 45 percent capacity, with an estimated 223 registered dairy operators and a dairy herd of about 26 000 cows.

In the 1990s, the country was producing over 256 million litres annually and exporting into the region and beyond before plummeting to an all-time low of 36 million litres in 2009.-The Source

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