‘CROSSBRED BUFFALOES BRING FORTH BIG BENEFITS’, SAYS AN AWARD-WINNING DAIRY FARMER

What could be the reaction of a manual laborer when he starts reaping bounty from a newfound undertaking?

“Very much delighted,” said Robert Garbino, a member of Calinog-Lambunao-Bingawan Carabao-based Entrepreneurs, Inc. (CLB-CARES, Inc.) in barangay Dalid, Calinog, Iloilo, when he got hold of a sum of money from his new source of livelihood.

The money was from his first milk sales that his crossbred buffaloes yielded.

Robert, one of the assisted dairy farmers of the PCC@WVSU in Calinog, Iloilo, has four crossbred buffaloes. The animals are products of the PCC’s continuous crossbreeding program using AI.

Though his crossbreds were of the 50-50 blood crossing, the milk yield from the females were comparatively higher than that of their female counterparts.

Robert said he used to work as a welder whose pay wasn’t enough for his family.

A turn for the better started for him when he was encouraged by an employee of PCC@WVSU to raise dairy buffaloes.

“Every time I recall those days when we only ate two times a day because my income could hardly meet our basic needs, I couldn’t help but become emotional,” Robert, with teary eyes, said. According to Robert, his income from dairying made it easier for him to support his family’s needs. He also disclosed that part of his income enabled him to finance the educational needs of his children and the purchase of two motorcycles.

He was also able to redeem the piece of land that he leased out during his days of critical needs. Aside from the crossbreds, he also has a native buffalo and Bulgarian Murrah bull loaned out to him by PCC.

He sells his collected milk to CLB-CARES, Inc. for Php70 per liter.

He said he has nothing but good words about the efforts of PCC in helping uplift the quality of life of an individual like him. He said he will be forever grateful for the technical assistance accorded to him in making his venture flourish.

Robert said he became even more happy when two of his crossbreds, which he named “Julia” and “Krissy”, won awards. Julia, with ID number 6WVC080163, is a crossbred with 75% riverine blood. On the other hand, Krissy, with ID number 7WVC120165 and an offspring of Julia, is a crossbred with 87% riverine blood.

He said a PCC-trained VBAIT, Anjo Palmes, provided the AI services to his crossbreds.

“Julia” was recorded to yield an average of 5.7 liters of milk per day at 181 days of lactation. It gave birth in February 2012, February 2013 and February 2014 with 12 months calving interval. “Krissy”, on the other hand, yielded an average of eight liters of milk daily in 45 days of its 10-month lactation period.

They were products of repeated backcrossing with different riverine bulls up to fourth generation. They are expected to attain 93.75% riverine blood with the continuous backcrossing being carried out.

The two crossbreds were awarded as “Best Senior Crossbred Dairy Cow” and “Best Junior Crossbred Dairy Cow”, respectively, during the PCC’s 22nd founding anniversary on March 27, 2015.

Robert hopes that with the successes he has reaped, more benefits will come his way in so far as sustainable livelihood is concerned.