The production of dairy products in Moldova has decreased by 38% over the past 10 years and the industry is in a deep crisis.
Such conclusions are contained in a study recently prepared by the Investment Agency with the aim of conducting a thorough analysis of the situation in the dairy industry, collecting data for the development of an investment plan and measures necessary for the industry to overcome the crisis. As reported by the agency, in just 3 years, milk production in Moldova decreased by a quarter: from 485 thousand tons in 2017 to 367 thousand tons in 2019. At the same time, the volume of imports of dairy products grows by 22% annually, reaching and indicator of $58 million in 2019. A similar negative trend is observed in the animal husbandry: the number of cows decreased from 154 thousand in 2011 to 81 thousand in 2020, while agricultural enterprises provide only 6% of raw materials used for industrial processing. According to the study, 94% of milk in Moldova is produced by households, and only 6% of milk used for processing comes from agricultural enterprises. At the same time, only 5% of the available cows belong to agricultural enterprises, which means that there is no de facto livestock industry for dairy production in Moldova: the majority of cows are owned by households, and not by industrial enterprises. Processors, in turn, are obliged to buy milk from individual households, with low quality and productivity, excessive costs for collection logistics. The shortage of domestic milk as a raw material leads to an increase in milk imports, which annually reaches 162 thousand tons and covers 33% of the needs of processors. At the same time, in 2019, Moldova exported dairy products worth $5.8 million, and over the past four years, exports have been declining by 17% annually. President of the Association of Milk and Dairy Products Producers, Development Director of Lapmol Oleg Lescenco believes that one of the solutions to overcome the crisis is to provide producers with access to credit, including under government guarantees. Another solution, in his opinion, may be the provision of subsidies per animal and subsidies per liter of milk. Ana Pancart, President of the Association of Milk Farmers, also believes that farmers have no access to finance - loans are expensive and short. She also noted a serious shortage of skilled labor for the livestock sector - zootechnicians, agronomists for growing forage crops, as well as insufficient provision of dairy enterprises with high-tech and automated equipment. The Investment Agency proposed to implement a project to create a standard farm for 400 cows, and if it is successful, scale it up at the country level. The investment plan includes the purchase of pregnant cows and feed necessary for their maintenance, equipment and technical means, agricultural machinery, construction of a cowshed, as well as the creation of a system for keeping records of livestock. According to preliminary calculations, the implementation of the project will help increase the number of cows in agricultural enterprises from 4 thousand to 63 thousand, and milk production - up to 317 thousand tons, increasing their total share from 6% to 60%. To achieve these goals, the required volume of investments is estimated at about 13 billion lei. // 19.05.2021 - InfoMarket.
