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In August 1993, MASHAV and CINADCO in cooperation with USAID
and the Ministry of Agriculture of El Salvador, established a dairy project in
San Salvador. The objective was the rehabilitation of the dairy sector in El
Salvador.
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The first step undertaken was to train local instructors, using
modern technologies appropriate to the local climate and the commercial
environment of the country. The extensive rehabilitation of a number of ranches,
willing to cooperate in this endeavour, was also undertaken.
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Training was carried out on-site by an Israeli expert, in
cooperation with 8 local instructors who received professional training and
participated in international CINADCO courses conducted in Israel. These 8
instructors, together with one economist, constitute the core group of the
Project.
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The Project conducts field days for demonstration and
illustration purposes on different dairy farms. Farmers and technicians from the
area are invited, as well as prominent local politicians and the media.
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Training
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Courses are delivered at the National School for Agriculture,
in the Department for Dairy Cattle and guided tours are carried out for
interested local farmers. Some 150 farmholds have benefited from this training
programme throughout the country. Salaries and transportation for the local
instructors are provided by the Salvadorian Ministry of Agriculture.
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The Dairy Project is concerned with training at all stages
of production; conservation and marketing of milk from sucklings to marketing.
The major subjects of the courses include:
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- Conservation
of fodder by the silage of corn and sorghum;
- Reducing heat
for milk cows and the whole herd in general, making for a
more comfortable climate;
- Raising
cattle until young heifers are born.
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- Growing and Silage of Sorghum and Corn
During the silage
season, there is a great deal of rainfall, thus preventing the use of
agricultural
machinery. It is therefore necessary to adapt working
patterns and mowing in order to produce the best quality silage, despite the
rough climatic conditions. Technology was slow to develop and included a large
amount of manpower, but little investment in machinery. The principal
investment consisted in high quality mowers and teaching how to dig the right
silage excavations, adapted to the size of the herd and field.
- Tropical Heat
Milk cows in tropical areas suffer from the
heat throughout the day and night (although
night temperatures fall by a
few degrees, the humidity rises). It was important to find adequate methods
and solutions to overcome the year-round high temperatures
and to develop
adequate measures by previously unknown methods.
- Cattle Raising as a replacement for the milk cows
In order to exploit the genetic
potential of the various breeds of milk cows, proper
technologies were adapted to allow cows to gestate before
the age of two, an accomplishment that was considered
impossible in the past. In some cattle-sheds, milk
production was increased threefold due to the introduction
of modern technologies developed in the country. Although
most of the milking is still done by hand, the project has
succeeded in introducing mechanical milking in some 30
ranches - ranging from milking directly into buckets, using
a mobile machine, as well as the use of more sophisticated
and modern milking implements imported from Israel.
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