Milk Production in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 333. Chapter IX: Agriculture: Section 2: Animal Health and Produce. (c)

CHAPTER IX.

of cocks and laying hens for all Palestine as 1,890 ,213 in comparison with 995,819 in 1937. Of these, about 700,000 birds are raised on modern farms. As regards other poultry, the census in the summer of 1942 of Jewish-owned livestock alone indicates that there were at the time some 50 ,000 geese and ducks and 23 ,500 turkeys. The total annual egg-yield is estimated at 120,000,000.

(c) Milk production.

49. Milk and milk products are universally recognized as of primary importance in the human diet and form a not inconsiderable item in the domestic economy of Palestine. They also form the most important single item in the income of Jewish mixed farms in Palestine, as will be seen in table 1. Therefore, an examination of the present position of their supply and cost would seem desirable with particular reference to future developments.

50. Jewish intensive agriculture and more particularly dairy farming is of recent origin and the majority of the apparent defects indicated in these notes may be attributed to the pioneering element in the enterprise.

51. Jewish milk, amounting to 72,200,000 litres in 1945, is almost entirely the produce of Dutch type cattle though a small quantity is produced from sheep. Jewish milk production is increasing at an annual rate of approximately 11 % .

52. Arab production, estimated at 75,000,000 litres for 1945, is the produce of cattle of local breed (except in the neighbourhood of towns, where some Dutch cattle are kept), sheep, goats and water buffaloes. Whilst the Arab production of milk has increased in recent years, the annual production varies widely from year to year as the food of the animals is almost entirely natural grazing.

53. The distribution of costs of the production of milk by Jews in Palestine compared with the distribution in the United Kingdom is set out in table 2. Since the average yield of Jewish owned cattle in Palestine exceeds the average of United Kingdom cattle by approximately 50%, it would seem that direct labour should carry less weight in Palestine than in the United Kingdom, but, as will be seen from table 2, this is not the case, owing to lack of experience, uneconomical labour management and other causes. The total cost of production of Jewish milk, in spite of high yields, exceeds that of the United Kingdom by at least 100%.

Page 333