(EID-019) “REVIVING THE MEAT AND DAIRY INDUSTRY”

It is very ironic that in what is supposedly an agricultural country, we are importing most of our milk and dairy requirements. This problem is not unique by itself, because we are also not producing our own flour and therefore not our own bread too. To complete the breakfast fare, we are producing our own chicken eggs, but almost exclusively from feeds made from imported materials too.

Generally speaking, we could say that the lack of growth in our agriculture industry is probably due to the lack of support by the government to our farmers, but that is already a worn out reason by now. It would be fair to say that the government would probably try to support our farmers in the best way that it could, but if that is not enough, it is time for us to move on by relying on our own resources.

Fortunately for all of us, we now have a homegrown technology that would enable us to economically and profitably produce our own milk to produce dairy products, our own flour to produce bread, and our own materials to produce animal feeds. As an added bonus, it would also enable us to deal with the problem of methane in cow dung and other animal wastes, a problem that contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer.

I say economically, because the technology will enable our farmers to make their own feeds and fertilizers, thus enabling them to save on these very expensive farm inputs. I say profitably, because as they save on the costs of farm inputs, they also have the chance of making more money.

The technology works by way of enabling the animals to fully digest the protein in their diets, thus completely removing the methane contents of their wastes. The full digestion of the protein also enables the animals to grow to market size faster. In the case of chickens, full growth is at 32 days instead of 45, in the case of hogs it is 4 months instead of 6 months.

Since the protein is fully digested, the resulting animal wastes are practically composed of fiber only, and all that is needed to convert it to organic fertilizer is to dry it. As soon as it is dried, it is also suitable for use as aquatic feeds.

Be it for cattle to produce meat or dairy, or for chickens to produce meat or eggs, the technology now gives us the opportunity to grow these basic food items that we have been importing all along. Using the organic fertilizer, we can grow the wheat for the flour that we need.