Aim:
The aim of the programme is to produce quality milk from profitable cows using good farming practise for enhanced rural incomes and responsible steppe management. The main components include (i) establishing milk producer groups, (ii) establishing dairy service centres and (iii) pioneering a dairy cow genetic improvement scheme.

Milk Producer Organizations
Three model milk producer organizations (MPOs) are being set up. Two Milk Producers’ Co-operatives with 38 members are already formally registered and conducting business activities such as collecting milk, providing transport services etc. A further group with 250 herder-members in a remote area is currently being set up. By and large, each group represents a different milk production system, e.g. (i) semi-intensive1 mixed crop-livestock farming at the Nomgon Suu (milk) Milk Producers’ Co-operative in Selenge aimag (ii) start-up specialised dairy farms at the Suun Sanaa (milk vision) Milk Producer Co-operative in Selenge aimag and (iii) nomadic herders at Mongonmort MPG in Tov Aimag. At present the focus is on: (i) clean milk production, (ii) improved dairy cow productivity and (iii) building awareness about the benefits of joining a MPO to add value to milk. At the time of writing (September 2006), these are only milk producer co-operatives operating in Mongolia.

Dairy Service Centres
Attached to each MPG is a Dairy Service Centre, run by a private Veterinarian. Presently the centres provide animal health and breeding services, on a full cost recovery basis, plus advice on clean milk production. Later, other services will be added such as advice on management and feeding.


Clean Milk
As part of the push for clean milk, herders and milk producers are encouraged to deliver their milk in hygienic aluminium cans, which they purchase from the Dairy Development Fund established in early 2006 by the above-mentioned National Dairy Task Force. This revolving fund is to be used mainly to purchase dairy inputs and supplies that cannot be made in Mongolia. As a further motivation, an incentive milk payment scheme, based on milk quality, is gradually being phased in.

Pilot National Dairy Cow Breed Improvement Scheme
The immediate aims of the scheme are: (i) to produce more productive and profitable cows adapted to Mongolian conditions, (ii) to boost winter milk production when supplies are at their lowest and farm-gate prices at their highest and (iii) to maximise returns from male off-spring for beef and for breeding in remoter areas where AI is not economical. The scheme comprises: (i) animal identification, (ii) AI using semen from adapted improved dual purpose dairy-beef breeds (using imported Simmental semen from young tested European bulls), (iii) performance recording for economically important traits (milk and meat) and (iv) analysis of data for genetic improvement for milk and meat production. The scheme is designed to be affordable and sustainable in the longer term. The AI component is already operated on a full cost-plus recovery basis, which pays for the performance recording component. The scheme will ultimately involve about 2,500 dairy cows and their off-spring, including cows from areas supported by other projects. To date 56 farms and herders with some 800 cows are involved. The scheme is supervised by the ‘Gene Bank’ of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and delivered through the above-mentioned Dairy Service Centres, by private veterinarians and AI technicians. Milk samples and farm records are collected on a monthly basic and tested automatically on a rapid milk analyser at the Animal Husbandry Research Institute in Ulaanbaatar, where the records are entered on a dedicated database in a new unit set up by the FAO project. It is planned to provide feedback to farmers and herders by the end of 2006, but it will be some time before enough records and experience are available for analysis for genetic improvement.

The pilot dairy cow genetic improvement scheme is closely linked to the national animal genetic improvement scheme launched by the Government in mid-2006 and, more specifically, to the commercial dairy heifer multiplication scheme.



Since 2003, the number of semi-intensive dairy farms within a 150 kilometre radius of Ulaanbaatar has trebled to 197 in 2006 (August). In the Mongolian livestock context ‘intensive’ means increased production using local resources, rather than tending towards a high input system.



(Tsetsgee Ser-Od and Brian Dugdill - June 2006)



For photos click here