SCIENCE CITY OF MUÑOZ – The carabao, for centuries harnessed as draft animal, has become a symbol of hard work and simplicity – virtues that mark the Filipino farmer himself.
But the beast of burden has also helped improve the lives of its masters – the rice and corn tillers.
Through dairy carabaos, farmers are assured of earning P175 to P350 per animal a day.
As the breed of carabaos is improved, dairying has become a source of wealth for farming families.
Take the case of the 25 women from Barangay Calabalabaan in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Life, they say, has become a breeze as they are able to cope with their daily needs, pay for the education of their children and improve their houses.
Belinda Parugrog, chairperson of the Angat-Buhay Producers’ Cooperative, says the group’s members now have more than 200 dairy buffaloes.
“We started with 25 heifer dairy buffaloes in 1999 that were loaned out to us by the PCC [Philippine Carabao Center],” she says.
PCC documents showed that the all-women cooperative had grossed at least P8 million from milk sales since it engaged in the enterprise.
Carabao dairying is not exclusive to Nueva Ecija, PCC records showed.
The enterprise changed the life of school dropout Francisco Solis, 47, of General Trias town in Cavite.
From his earnings selling fresh carabao milk and kasilyo (white cheese), Solis was able to buy vehicles, rice threshers, hand tractors, a house and lot, a rice farm and a bakery.
“There’s really big promise in raising dairy carabaos. If not for them, I would not be able to rise from poverty,” Solis said.
The Philippine Carabao Act of 1992, authored by then Senator Joseph Estrada, pushed the harnessing of carabaos for milk, meat, hide and other byproducts, aside from draft power.
A national carabao development program, launched after the passage of the law, addresses poverty alleviation, nutritional improvement, equitable income distribution, people empowerment and improvement of the lives of farming families.
Dr. Libertado Cruz of PCC says the program involves cross-breeding native carabaos with dairy water buffaloes. The center pursues artificial insemination, reproductive biotechnology and importation of dairy buffaloes.
The province has 38 dairy cooperatives that sell milk to their umbrella organization, the Nueva Ecija Federation of Dairy Carabao Cooperatives.
Records of the federation showed its members had sold 1,741,163.71 liters of milk in seven years. Value of the milk sold was estimated at P62.7 million.
But the beast of burden has also helped improve the lives of its masters – the rice and corn tillers.
Through dairy carabaos, farmers are assured of earning P175 to P350 per animal a day.
As the breed of carabaos is improved, dairying has become a source of wealth for farming families.
Take the case of the 25 women from Barangay Calabalabaan in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Life, they say, has become a breeze as they are able to cope with their daily needs, pay for the education of their children and improve their houses.
Belinda Parugrog, chairperson of the Angat-Buhay Producers’ Cooperative, says the group’s members now have more than 200 dairy buffaloes.
“We started with 25 heifer dairy buffaloes in 1999 that were loaned out to us by the PCC [Philippine Carabao Center],” she says.
PCC documents showed that the all-women cooperative had grossed at least P8 million from milk sales since it engaged in the enterprise.
Carabao dairying is not exclusive to Nueva Ecija, PCC records showed.
The enterprise changed the life of school dropout Francisco Solis, 47, of General Trias town in Cavite.
From his earnings selling fresh carabao milk and kasilyo (white cheese), Solis was able to buy vehicles, rice threshers, hand tractors, a house and lot, a rice farm and a bakery.
“There’s really big promise in raising dairy carabaos. If not for them, I would not be able to rise from poverty,” Solis said.
The Philippine Carabao Act of 1992, authored by then Senator Joseph Estrada, pushed the harnessing of carabaos for milk, meat, hide and other byproducts, aside from draft power.
A national carabao development program, launched after the passage of the law, addresses poverty alleviation, nutritional improvement, equitable income distribution, people empowerment and improvement of the lives of farming families.
Dr. Libertado Cruz of PCC says the program involves cross-breeding native carabaos with dairy water buffaloes. The center pursues artificial insemination, reproductive biotechnology and importation of dairy buffaloes.
The province has 38 dairy cooperatives that sell milk to their umbrella organization, the Nueva Ecija Federation of Dairy Carabao Cooperatives.
Records of the federation showed its members had sold 1,741,163.71 liters of milk in seven years. Value of the milk sold was estimated at P62.7 million.
