SARD III provides support to local dairy enterprises

Effectively addressing dairy sector challenges in Turkmenistan is the ambition of the European Union funded Project “Support to Further Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Turkmenistan – SARD III”. The Project provides technical support related to dairy farm management, breeding and feeding improvements, milk production and veterinary related issues to medium-scale farmers and smallholders in the dairy value chain. It also enhances linkages between Turkmen and international companies to present best farming practices and good examples of technologies to Turkmen farmers and to create market linkages between the Turkmen farmers and international dairy companies. This article summarizes visit of the international short-term expert of the SARD III Project, who arrived to Ashgabat to work with the relevant specialists and dairy technologists of “Zamana” enterprise and other dairy enterprises to assist and train them to set up pilot production of condensed milk and hard cheese for domestic market.

Mr. Arne Fokdal, SARD III international short-term Danish expert, specializing on dairy processing, with over 50 years of experience in the field. Mr. Fokdal has provided consulting and training services in more than 28 countries in Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Once at the “Zamana” dairy plant, Mr. Fokdal accompanied by the SARD III expert, Mr. Farhat Orunov, were welcomed by Mr. Gurbanguly Agayev – entrepreneur and a member of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan. He shared the history of his farm and his experiences in milk and dairy production. During the visit to the processing unit, it was explained how quality and safety tests are being performed on Zamana dairy products.

In terms of partnerships, SARD III experts have supported “Zamana” dairy farm since January 2018, when the SARD III Project helped Zamana to purchase 200 straws of sexed semen of two high merit Holstein bulls from Cogent. In a series of missions since 2018, SARD III short-term international experts have provided advice to “Zamana” farmers on total farm management best practices and techniques. The experiences of “Zamana” farm is becoming a wider-known example for Turkmen farmers and entrepreneurs.

Mr. Fokdal reflected on what was learned from the visit to the dairy enterprise. Whereas he expects more development, he said “Zamana” enterprise’s dairy plant is equipped with a set of suitable processing lines of enough capacity that enable them to not only increase the volumes of production, but also to diversify to other processed dairy products. In the framework of the SARD III Project, Mr. Fokdal will help “Zamana” set up and adjust part of the existing dairy processing equipment line for condensed milk production and assist with appropriate technology for the production of condensed milk and hard cheese.

Funded by the European Union and supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, the activity continues to build on progress achieved by SARD III to date, in terms of the project’s activities aimed at supporting the development local agro-food value chain, and aims to support the Government of Turkmenistan in achieving national policy objectives for sustainable agriculture and rural development.