News
Kalpitiya’s donkeys to be tapped for milk industry
View(s):Text and pix by Padma Kumari Kankanamge
A Sri Lankan entrepreneur, Roshan Lowe, hopes to establish a donkey milk industry in Kalpitiya, aiming to produce milk and related products for international markets.
A discussion on the proposed project was held this week. The meeting was attended by officials including the Puttalam Additional District Secretary (Lands) Chathuraka Jayasinghe, ranger attached to Department of Wildlife Conservation Upali Kumaratunga, Kalpitiya Health Officer Dam Siri Madumal, Central Environmental Authority official H.M. Dissanayake and other state officials.
Kalpitiya is famous for its donkeys
Following the discussion a field visit was held to check on a location to carry out the project.
Mr. Lowe who has 35 years of work experience in Italy said he believes he can make the project a success and earn foreign revenue by setting up a donkey farm at Kalpitiya.
He said an Italian national would be the foreign investor.
“We plan to obtain milk from around 700 female donkeys (Jennies) and process it to a milk powder and export the donkey milk powder to countries such as Italy or Spain in the initial stage and then export other donkey milk products,” he said.
Mr Lowe said that he expects to acquire a 100 acre plot of land from Kalpitiya and get 1000 donkeys from Kalpitiya and Mannar areas,
The initial six months will focus on providing the animals with proper nutrition and care, facilitating reproduction under veterinary supervision, and subsequently begin milk extraction. Mr. Lowe also said that necessary veterinarians, laboratory facilities, and technicians would be brought in from Italy.
A meeting was held to discuss the plan
He said wood and timber would be utilised for the building. “Apart from producing donkey milk products we also plan to use donkey waste to make organic fertilizer,” he said.
He said in addition the project would generate 400 jobs for area residents. He added that his ambition also includes the making of a movie ‘Love Donkey’ and setting up a museum.
Puttalam District Parliamentarian, Ajith Gihan said the project would not only help Sri Lanka generate foreign revenue but would also improve the infrastructure of the area and give livelihoods to area residents.
A site visit was conducted after the meeting
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!