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EDITORIAL - Reinventing the dairy wheel
published: Tuesday | February 19, 2008
Ask the researchers at the celebrated National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) at Karnal in the northern India state of Haryana what they know about Jamaica, and the name Dr T. P. Lecky rings out.
Dr Lecky's work as an animal geneticist and his development of new breeds of dairy and beef cattle are well known there. Some of his published research papers are in the institute's library.
Of course, Dr Lecky's work is known in other places where tropical dairy research is done and is perhaps even remembered in Jamaica some people may claim, with some credibility, that there is good cause to doubt it.
Take the report in this newspaper a week ago that the new agriculture minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, is soon to submit a proposal to ministers for the rebuilding of Jamaica's dairy industry. That project will involve the importation of dairy cattle, possibly for cross-breeding with other varieties.
Dr Tufton, of course, has a good reason for wanting to re-engineer the dairy sector. Last year, milk production was 14 million litres, two thirds of the 21 million tonnes five years earlier. The downward trend has been consistent.
However, Jamaica produces only about 10 per cent of the milk it consumes. The remainder is imported, mostly in the form of powdered milk at prices which local dairy farms have been unable to match.
More recently, though, as the countries of Asia, particularly China, grow richer and the markets of new entrants to the European Union strengthen, dairy prices have edged up in response to higher demand. Jamaica can no longer readily depend on cheap importation of milk. But this is happening at a time when its dairy herd is at a low ebb.
Hence, the new scramble by the authorities to resuscitate the dairy sector and perhaps a new round of the dairy industry yo-yo. Indeed, we are too aware of the cyclical thing; of increased domestic production when the global dairy market tightens and thereafter the dumping of milk by local dairy farmers when prices fall.
More than 50 years ago, as he worked to develop the Jamaica Hope and other breeds, Dr Lecky recognised the vulnerability of countries like Jamaica to the yo-yo of global agriculture and the importance of doing things to ensure food security. With the development of his breeds, he sought to bring coherence and cogency to the dairy and wider cattle industry. But he was a scientist who did his part. Unfortunately, the policymakers, technocrats and entrepreneurs let him down.
Of course, they have paid lip service to the need for a vibrant dairy sector, and have even, at times, put some money in it. But the projects have largely been ill-defined and worse, badly executed. They have, therefore, mostly failed.
Early in this decade, for instance, Dr Tufton's predecessor as agriculture minister, Roger Clarke, launched with much fanfare, a major dairy revival project. The idea, in part, was to establish a major dairy production cooperative, modelled largely off what exists in New Zealand and, to some extent, parts of India. An Indian consultant was hired and large sums of money borrowed.
Little has been heard of that project and it appears that we are about to attempt to reinvent the wheel and/or Dr Lecky's work.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
published: Tuesday | February 19, 2008
Ask the researchers at the celebrated National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) at Karnal in the northern India state of Haryana what they know about Jamaica, and the name Dr T. P. Lecky rings out.
Dr Lecky's work as an animal geneticist and his development of new breeds of dairy and beef cattle are well known there. Some of his published research papers are in the institute's library.
Of course, Dr Lecky's work is known in other places where tropical dairy research is done and is perhaps even remembered in Jamaica some people may claim, with some credibility, that there is good cause to doubt it.
Take the report in this newspaper a week ago that the new agriculture minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, is soon to submit a proposal to ministers for the rebuilding of Jamaica's dairy industry. That project will involve the importation of dairy cattle, possibly for cross-breeding with other varieties.
Dr Tufton, of course, has a good reason for wanting to re-engineer the dairy sector. Last year, milk production was 14 million litres, two thirds of the 21 million tonnes five years earlier. The downward trend has been consistent.
However, Jamaica produces only about 10 per cent of the milk it consumes. The remainder is imported, mostly in the form of powdered milk at prices which local dairy farms have been unable to match.
More recently, though, as the countries of Asia, particularly China, grow richer and the markets of new entrants to the European Union strengthen, dairy prices have edged up in response to higher demand. Jamaica can no longer readily depend on cheap importation of milk. But this is happening at a time when its dairy herd is at a low ebb.
Hence, the new scramble by the authorities to resuscitate the dairy sector and perhaps a new round of the dairy industry yo-yo. Indeed, we are too aware of the cyclical thing; of increased domestic production when the global dairy market tightens and thereafter the dumping of milk by local dairy farmers when prices fall.
More than 50 years ago, as he worked to develop the Jamaica Hope and other breeds, Dr Lecky recognised the vulnerability of countries like Jamaica to the yo-yo of global agriculture and the importance of doing things to ensure food security. With the development of his breeds, he sought to bring coherence and cogency to the dairy and wider cattle industry. But he was a scientist who did his part. Unfortunately, the policymakers, technocrats and entrepreneurs let him down.
Of course, they have paid lip service to the need for a vibrant dairy sector, and have even, at times, put some money in it. But the projects have largely been ill-defined and worse, badly executed. They have, therefore, mostly failed.
Early in this decade, for instance, Dr Tufton's predecessor as agriculture minister, Roger Clarke, launched with much fanfare, a major dairy revival project. The idea, in part, was to establish a major dairy production cooperative, modelled largely off what exists in New Zealand and, to some extent, parts of India. An Indian consultant was hired and large sums of money borrowed.
Little has been heard of that project and it appears that we are about to attempt to reinvent the wheel and/or Dr Lecky's work.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
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