Qatar to get self-sufficient in milk supply by the end of July, 2018

One of the first food items that was hit after the start of the illegal blockade on June 5 was fresh milk.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which used to take care of a large part of Qatar’s milk supply, cut it off completely and it affected consumers. However, milk soon started to arrive from Turkey and Iran and Qatar too started thinking of innovative methods to produce milk at home.

As part of the strategy, Qatar thought out of the box and decided to fly in cows from different parts of the world. The move soon started showing results and just about two months ago, the cows started producing milk to the thirsty nation.

The plan has been so successful that Qatar is expected to be completely self sufficient in milk production by July 2018, reported Gulf Times.

Nearly six months after eruption of the bitter political crisis, the man in charge of soon-to-be 14,000 animals said Qatar would be able to meet all its own milk needs by the middle of next year, reported The Peninsula.

“We should be self-sufficient by June/July. Our aim is quite basically to be part of the national effort, to put our finger up to the Saudis. We don't need you, we can do it ourselves,” John Dore, chief executive officer of Baladna Livestock Production, told AFP.

He said the total cost of flying in the cows from Germany and the USA, building milking parlours at the site 80km north of Doha, and production was QR3bn.
The first 165 cows had been flown in on July 11.

“At the moment, we’ve roughly 3,400 cows... the rest coming in over the next 10 days, that’ll bring it up to 4,000,” Dore said.

By next February, he added, there will be 14,000 Holstein cows able to produce nearly 400 tonnes of milk per day, enough to meet Qatar’s needs.

Dore, 57, said the cows would also make the 2022 football World Cup host self-sufficient in beef.

And he added the country was now looking at extending self-sufficiency to other livestock, including poultry.

Picture courtesy: The Peninsula