DA unleashes carabao dairying

alternative for coconut farmers

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, October 29 (PIA) –Wanting to leave no coconut farmers behind with the lean market and lousy deals for the ‘tree of life’ farmers, the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) at the Ubay Stock Farm (USF), joins hands with the DA-Philippine Coconut Authority (DA-PCA) for a project that has been tested and proven to increase farmer family incomes in Bohol and contribute to local nutrition initiatives.

Under the Coconut-Carabao Development Program, coconut farmers who are now suffering from low market prices and low yield can still make up for the lost income by adopting the program, said PCCBohol Center Chief Dr. Dinah Loculan, veterinarian.

Guesting the Kapihan sa PIA, Dr. Loculan who came along with PCA-PCC CCDP consultant Edilberto Macalandag, explained that the CCDP aims to provide additional income options to coconut farmers by providing them sustainable livelihood and business opportunities.

This it does by introducing the carabao and its long line of carabao-based enterprises that carry a long value-chain of business opportunities and ensure the availability of locally produced milk in support of the government’s nutrition programs.

Under Republic Act 11037, or the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Program” Bohol is now currently leading the country’s locally produced supplemental feeding program through the more nutritious carabao milk as implemented by Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The program is centered on the theme, “Developing the Dairy Buffalo Value-Chain Under Coconut Farming System,” Macalandag, who used to head the Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Office and now program consultant explained.

For the program, the PCC is entrusting carabaos to coconut farmers who can fatten the livestock and milk them when it gives birth to calves.

Other than the calves that could be a potential source of income again, the milking she-carabao, especially with the crossbred ones under the entrustment program, can generate milk more than the average native carabaos do.

According to Dr. Loculan, while a native carabao can give 1.5 to 2 liters, crossbred carabaos can give up to 4 to 6 liters, sometimes more when properly cared for.

That being said, she further explained that beyond what a calf can consume in a day, is a surplus milk that can be harvested and sold at P50.00 a liter.

Then consolidated by the PCC to be processed, the dairy collected now goes to a local cooperative whose members are now engaged in the multiple value chain support services, PCC said.

Now spreading out and spilling from their initial target municipalities, the carabao dairy production in the household levels have reached an average of nearly 2,000 liters a day, still not enough for the huge bulk of supply needed for the local supplemental feeding program through carabao milk and its processed products.

On this, the PCC and the PCA partnership, according to Macalandag, is now conducting farmers’ orientation and carabao care in Bohol before entrusting to them, not necessarily the golden goose that lays the golden egg, but nearly. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

NOT NECESSARILLY THE GOOSE WITH GOLDEN EGGS. Carabaos nurtured by coconut farmers could offer a bright income alternative, while helping develop the strong carabao milk value chain, and ultimately helping improve the local nutrition, says Dr. Ma. Dina Loculan, of the PCC. With her is DA PCC-PCA project consultant Edilberto Macalandag, during the Kapihan sa PIA. (PIAbohol)