Feihe, Harbin vocational college team up to train dairy staff

Feihe Dairy, a subsidiary of Feihe International Inc, has joined with a Harbin-based vocational college to nurture dairy talent, a move experts said will help ensure the industry's safety standards are met.

With the development of China's domestic dairy industry, especially the introduction of infant formula regulations, the demand for high-end dairy talent continues to rise, said Liang Aimei, vice-president of Feihe International.

Liang said the industry needs more management personnel, technicians, quality inspectors and workers in cow breeding programs.

That is why the company signed an agreement with Heilongjiang Vocational College for Nationalities in late June to provide vocational education for industry workers, she said.

Its three-year training program will admit 150 first-round students in two major fields - that of dairy processing and technology, and also animal husbandry and veterinary medicine. Admission to the program will start in August, according to the school.

Liang said Feihe Dairy will fund tuition fees for the first year. For the second year, the company and the college will offer a tuition waiver or reduction to those who are either academically qualified or identified as in need of monetary assistance. Students will have to fund the last year themselves.

After graduation, the students will be able to work for whatever company they want.

In terms of a training model, Feihe Dairy will arrange to have its own technicians, dairy industry experts and professionals give lectures as well as provide internship opportunities.

Song Liang, an industry analyst, said pasture managers, production system control personnel, engineers and sales talent are desperately needed by the dairy industry.

"A pasture manager has to be responsible for the good operation of the pasture and keep costs under control," Song said.

He said unpopular majors like livestock breeding receive limited attention and financial support at colleges and universities. "The government should play a larger role in supporting such majors through preferential policies or funding," he said.

Xu Jiancheng, Party chief of the Heilongjiang school, said the source of students for vocational education should not only be high school students but also should include staff from enterprises and unemployed workers.

He said the school's cooperation with Feihe would attempt to enroll more such people into the program.

In addition to Feihe Dairy, other industry players also have been active in organizing training programs.

In 2010, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co established Yili Cow School, which trains technical and management personnel.

Yili reportedly offered 61 training courses from 2010 to 2012, with the number of trainees exceeding 2,000.