AN Australian dairy cattle breed known as Brown Swiss will be introduced in local dairy farms across the country to address the shortage of milk, says Agriculture Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy.
Dr Reddy said currently the yield was low with a dairy cattle producing about six litres of milk per day.
“This is very low in international standards and we have brought in the new dairy cattle from Australia because it can produce up to 20 litres of milk per day,” Dr Reddy said at the National Agriculture Show yesterday.
“Currently, the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji has stopped the import of livestock into the country because of the diseases so the Australia Government is helping us with the embryos of this dairy cattle breed.
“So they are brought in test tubes and then inserted in a dairy cattle, from there it then gives birth to new breed of Brown Swiss, this is pure and this is the first time we will be having this breed.”
Out the of 100 embryos, he said only 60 per cent were expected to be successful. Australian Reproductive Technologies managing director Simon Walton said they had been working with the Fijian Government over the past years.
“The sort of genetic we brought into the dairy cattle, they should be producing around 20 litres of milk a day,” he said.
