PCC completes bull-breeding program

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) has completed the upgrading of its bull-breeding center in Nueva Ecija, funded by a $3-million grant from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

In 2010, the PCC partnered with KOICA to fund the three-year project to increase the breeding capacity and capability of its National Bull Farm and Semen Laboratory in Carrangalan, Nueva Ecija.

PCC’s improved bull-breeding facility now hosts a state-of-the-art semen processing center and cryobanking facility that will be used for artificial insemination services.

The facility which contains six cryotanks and a liquid hydrogen depot, can conserve the genetic material of selected livestock for a longer period.

Aside from improvement made in the national bull farm, PCC personnel are also given advanced training in livestock breeding technology.

“After barely two years of construction and involvement of the local communities, I join the PCC in thanking the KOICA for these wonderful, high-tech facilities for genetic improvement and conservation of livestock animals,” said Agriculture undersecretary for special affairs Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, one of signatories to the grant agreement.

She said with the establishment of state-of-the-art facilities for semen processing and cryobanking, the PCC would be able to double its production for wider provision of artificial insemination services nationwide.

PCC executive director Libertado Cruz said the services of the bull breeding facility would not be limited to the breeders of Philippine buffaloes but would be extended to other players in the livestock industry.

“These facilities allow us to cover three to four folds more than the usual number of farmers we service a year. Now we are confident that we can cater to half a million more farmers in the country every year,” he said.