Dairy farms are meeting less than 50 per cent of the country’s demand for milk, according to Assistant Agriculture Minister Tomasi Tunabuna.
Mr Tunabuna said farmers were struggling to meet the demand.
“The production area cannot sustain the demand,” he said.
Mr Tunabuna said several factors had contributed to the low production, including cows infected with tuberculosis.
“Tuberculosis was the cause of the drop in numbers,” Mr Tunabuna said.
“The sick cows have been removed from the farm, but we are still maintaining this program together with the removal of affected cattle.”
The minister had earlier told staff members during a training session in Labasa that farms were struggling to meet demand.
“We could not replace the cows after they were removed from the farms for being infected,” Mr Tunabuna said.
He said Fiji imported much of its milk from New Zealand and Australia.
