National Dairy Congress in Cagayan de Oro in May

CAGAYAN DE ORO - Genetic improvement in dairy cattle would be the focus of the 11th National Dairy Congress, which would convene here from May 7 to 9. Cresencio G. Barros, Jr., chairman of the Northern Mindanao Federation of Dairy Cooperatives and host of the gathering, said productivity of local dairy cattle has long been a problem. While production of more than 10 liters of milk per cow per day is still new here, there’s already a breed of cattle that can produce at least 45 liters per cow per day in advanced countries. Mr. Barros said the congress would help participants to gain more information from experts who would share new technologies that can improve the production of dairy animals. "There will be thousands of participants coming in including representatives from the US Department of Agriculture, Australian Dairy Council and delegates from Thailand and other countries," said Mr. Barros. Since the bulk of the demand for milk requirements is supplied through importation, the federation’s officials said the government should provide new perks to businessmen who would invest in dairy farms. Jesus B. So, Mindanao field office manager for the National Dairy Authority said what they can offer now to investors are support services. "On the production side, we also supply dairy animals although we have limited fund resources, we also purchase animals to be able to disperse to our farmers," said Mr. So. He also emphasized that the authority has a milk processing plant in the region that investors can utilize. He added that in the marketing side, they are assisting their partners through milk-feeding program with other government agencies. Mr. So said, however, the agency’s allocation for the importation of productive dairy breeds has been reduced due to budgetary constraints in the national government. "Instead of P200 million, we only have P50 million allocated from the national budget, so we can’t accommodate much importation," he said. Mr. Barros noted that the country has been lagging behind in improving cattle breeds for dairy. "Indonesia imports 180,000 dairy cows and Philippines only imports 15,000 annually," said Mr. Barros. Investing in dairy business, he said, requires a lot of money. "A pure-bred dairy cow costs around P90,000," added Mr. Barros. — Geefe P. Alba, BusinessWorld