Scarce milking herds hinders Cebu dairy sector's growth

The lack of milking herds hampers the growth of a multimillion dairy business in the province.

Sisinia Onde, head of the Cebu Federation of Dairy Cooperatives said, the province has a total of 938 herds but only 185 of them are producing milk.

Despite that Onde said, the province produces more than 1,000 liters of milk each day and handles most of the public schools' feeding.

This would mean that one out of five glasses of milk served at Filipino tables is locally produced.

Onde said Cefedco as well as other members of the Dairy Confederation of the Philippines are currently urging the government for the release of funds intended for the dairy industry.

Onde said the funds would be utilized to purchase additional milking herds.

Jose Vicente Tarnate, chairman of DCP said that at the national scene, of the 10 million herds only 26,000 are milk producing.

These herds are managed by 300 cooperatives benefiting at most 30,000 families.

Dennis Voboril, United States Embassy acting agricultural counselor, said he has stayed and studied the Philippine Dairy Industry to know that it has a lot of income potential.

Voboril said a farmer family with three to five milking herds can earn as much as P35,000 each month.

"Dairy in the Philippines is a highly feasible business with high potential growth," Voboril said.

In terms of nutrition, he said that a child is observed to grow by two centimeters for every 200 ml milk consumed each day.

It was however assured that a funding of P65 billion last year is currently being distributed for the development of the 10 identified dairy zones in the country.

Each zone consists of four barangays with a mini dairy plant.

There will be 100 farmers in these four barangays and ideally managing 300 dairy animals.

According to the National Dairy Authority, the funding already covered 36 out of the 52 provinces interested in the dairy industry.