The recent outbreak of brucellosis and tuberculosis amongst cattle has had its first major casualty with it now being confirmed – there is a major shortage of milk in the country.

Fiji Cooperative Dairy Company Limited’s Chief Executive, Kushmendra Prasad says the local dairy industry is fighting a battle.

Prasad says a lot of cattle have been removed from farms due to the worldwide spread of brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis.

“Approximately half of the cattle have been removed from the farms. This led to a reduction in the production level. The production fell from 9 million litres to 5.2million litres. The disease is one of the biggest impacts. There may be other factors which may be contributing to this.”

Prasad says the production of fresh milk has been on the decline for about seven years and the recent outbreak has resulted in increased cost of production in running the farms.

Meanwhile, consumers say they’re being affected by the increased price of locally produced milk and associated products as they have children at home who consume milk on a daily basis.