Author: Chrissalyn L. Marcelo

GK-assisted poor families develop, sell high-end carabao’s milk products

Posted on | by Chrissalyn L. Marcelo

Carabao’s milk can be transformed into high-end food products, which could be profitable sources of income especially for the rural families.

The carabao’s milk, aside from being a healthy and nutritious drink and as an ingredient for making milk candies, among others, can also be processed into high-end cheeses and ice cream that can be competitive products not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well.

For the Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm (GKEF), located at California St., Pandi Angat Road in Angat, Bulacan, their Gourmet Keso and Karabeau ice cream products are fine examples of this truism.

“The two products are outcomes of our two sustainable social enterprises that we established here in the GKEF to help the Filipino poor to have livelihood opportunities, help the dairy industry, and harness the potentials of dairying in the Philippines,” Erica Ng Wong, social entrepreneur and change catalyst officer of the Gawad Kalinga, said.

She added that the two enterprises are just among the 37 enterprises that they are currently promoting and sustaining in Gawad Kalinga (GK).

The GK is an entity pursuing a noble purpose of helping others. Its name is derived from Tagalog words “gawad” (provide) and “kalinga” (care). Thus, the GK’s purpose is to provide care for poor communities to grow and develop, the GK official explained.

The other enterprises pursued elsewhere by GK, Wong said, are the Aura Natura, Bambike, Bayani Brew, Enchanted Jams, Enchanted Farm Café, First Harvest, Friggies, Golden Duck, Grassroots Kitchen, Hamlet, Hiraya Chocolate, Human Nature, Plush and Play, Red Carpet,The Bee Empire Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates and Trese, and others.

“The development of Gourmet Keso and Karabeau ice cream, along with other enterprises that we have here in the GKEF, is part of our mission to help end poverty in the Philippines,” Wong said.

She said that thirty percent of the proceeds from the marketing of these two products, like those of the enterprises they are assisting, goes to building the houses and dreams of people in poor communities.

Gourmet Keso

According to Wong, the Gourmet Keso uses carabao’s milk as its main ingredient.

The development of this enterprise, she said, was led by Marie Cavosora, the founder and chief enabling officer of the dairy yard in the GK community, with team members composed of Atty. Alexander L. Lacson and Atty. Patricia Ann T. Progalidad, who are both experts in their disciplines and in businesses enterprises.

Cavosora said that the Gourmet Keso is a type of high-end cheese, which is product of Europeans, Americans, and Filipinos collaborating together to produce the best that can be derived from dairying.

Its development, she added, has now evolved into a bigger type of a dairy-yard enterprise of people in communities working together. It, in a different way, provides the mechanism to erase the state of “poverty existing in their minds.”

“We are currently working with the Philippine Carabao Center and other organizations and agencies for the further strengthening of this enterprise,” Cavosora said.

With the help of other agencies, those involved in the enterprise are assisted in identifying sure markets for the raw milk harvest and developed milk products thru various types of trainings in dairy buffalo production, products development and in improving their general well-being.

“More than that, we seek the connectivity and partnerships that we can get from all the key players in the dairy value chain to attain the desired progress and development for the rural residents involved,” she said.

Among the cheeses being processed and sold are Bufaline Soave and Bufalina Brava. These cheeses carry the name “Gourmet Keso” as their brand.

The Bufaline Soave, according to Cavosora, is a semi-aged, semi-firm, creamy, mild yet flavorful kind of cheese. It is great when toasted on a baguette or the long thin loaf from French that is commonly made from basic lean dough, and punctuated with jam or salsa.

The Bufalina Brava, on the other hand, Cavosora said, is an aged, crumbly but creamy cheese, bursting with flavor and accented by herbs and spices. She explained that it is best tasted on a fresh baguette, on canapés (a small piece of bread or pastry) or sprinkled on garden salads.

Cavosora added that these cheeses are being processed through their collaborations with Marcial Mays, the processor of other high-end cheeses known by its brand—“La Latteria d’ Ischia” (see separate article about this brand on this issue of the newsletter), who serves as their processor for their cheeses.

She said that these cheeses are processed without additives, artificial flavors and substitutes.

“With the carabao’s milk natural goodness, there’s no need to over-process or compensate the products with additives. We simply make sure that we start with farm-fresh, organic carabao’s milk from our local farmer partners”.

She said the cheeses are processed in the European tradition of producing cheeses. Their usual buyers are the local and international visitors in the GKEF, she added.

“Each week, we are getting at least 700 visitors and guests in the GKEF, many of whom don’t go away without buying the products,” Cavosora said. “We sell the each product at Php195 in vacuum sealed-type packages,” she added.

Karabeau ice cream

While the Gourmet Keso attracts many buyers, the GKEF Karabeau Ice Cream as an enterprise is also doing well.

In fact, according to Wong, it is well-loved by the foreign tourists and guests and also by the interns that they have in the GKEF.

“To test the products, we conducted sensory evaluation and the result affirmed that it is really superb,” she said.

Wong added that they mostly pick international guest, intern and visitors in the sensory evaluation test that they conducted for their ice cream.

“Our French guests and other international guests loved our products. In fact, we actually have here our Italian visitor who keeps on coming back to our ice cream booth (located inside the GKEF) to buy ice cream for the last two weeks. Thus, we are very sure that they love our products,” Wong happily explained.

Wong said their ice cream is currently available in two flavors namely “malted vanilla blast” and “peanut butter goodness”.

“We just started this business last October 2014,” Wong said. “Thus, we are still in the process of developing new flavors for our products as part of our products development initiatives,” Wong explained.

She said they are working with Chef Kenneth Tordesillas of Hive Hotel & Convention Place in Metro Manila to develop new flavors for their ice cream. They include chocolate brownie with kasoy and Pinoy mint chocolates.

Two student scholars of the GKEF are working with them for this enterprise. The scholars are Krizteen S. Reyes, 18, and Rinalyn M. Pagao, 17 (both from Bulacan) who are on-the-job trainees as part of their requirements in their course on social entrepreneurship and preparation as future entrepreneurs.

She said the two are studying under the Gawad Kalinga’s program on School for Experiential and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED).

“They are top performing students who are sons or daughters of farmers. We help them learn how to create the businesses they want to pursue later on,” she said.

She said the SEED program is approved by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“Every month, we get an average gross income of Php25,000 for the 19 to 20 liters of milk processed into ice cream. We buy the milk from a dairy farmer, Edgardo Dela Torre, in Bulacan,” Wong said.

The name karabeau comes from the coined words “kara”, which means “care”, and “beau” which means “beautiful”.

“Our two products, Gourmet Keso and Karabeau ice cream, are proofs that providing added value to the carabao’s milk can bring in more income for entrepreneurs,” she concluded..

PCC-PIMD conducts special projects review

Posted on | by Clarisse Mae G. Bondoc

The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) through its Planning and Information Management Division (PIMD) recently conducted a Special Projects Review (SPR) to enhance the alignment of accomplishment to the agency’s major final output accountability report card (MARC) on May 11-12 at the PCC National Headquarters and Gene Pool in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

Said activity was participated in by 35 PCC employees, staff members from PIMD and Business Development and Commercialization Unit, and PCC researchers who are involved in the special projects.

Currently, PCC has 17 special projects from various funding agencies such as the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), Department of Agriculture-Biotech, and Bureau of Agricultural Research.

According to PIMD, Special Projects Review MARC is an event which is formerly called as the Special Projects Review. They said the MARC is joined with the SPR because it indicates the targets, wherein the target corresponds with a budget. The target of the SPR is the MARC technical support services that have three performance indicators which are the production support, market development and the education services extension and training (ESET).

Special projects are externally funded with one or three components with three performance indicators. The PIMD stressed that all PCC employees must be aware of MARC that is why it decided to conduct the Special Project Review. The event, they said, aims to create a convenient venue for discussion among PIMD and young researchers for them to clearly understand where their researches belong, what will be their contributions to MARC, and on what performance indicator they should connect.

Moreover, the SPR-MARC is being organized twice a year and this time it is scheduled in May and September.

“This is not a traditional ‘let’s-sit-down’ conference wherein researchers just present the researches. We make the activity as light as possible to encourage all participants to actively engage in the process,” Alvin David, PIMD planning assistant, said.

 

PCC launches 1st FLS-DBP San Jose City, Guimba, Ilocos Norte clusters to take course this year

Posted on | by Paul John P. Villamor

Dairy farmers now have wider access to best practices and technologies in carabao dairying.

A development modality called the Farmers Livestock School on Dairy Buffalo Production (FLS-DBP) makes this possible.

FLS-DBP project leader Dr. Eric Palacpac said this innovative and creative way to help dairy farmers is no longer a promise but a mandate realized thru a PCC project.

“Several years ago, PCC experienced difficulties in spreading technologies and it took us a year to come up with this kind of project wherein dairy farmers will surely grasp the learning and enjoy as well because this is a participatory-type of class, there are a lot of exciting activities,” Dr. Palacpac said.

The said project which started on May 13 at San Jose City hall will run for 34 weeks every Friday with accredited FLS-DBP facilitators to guide the participants along the course.

PCC acting executive director Dr. Arnel del Barrio, and deputy executive director Dr. Felomino Mamuad both gave inspirational messages about how PCC was able to surpass challenges on dairy buffalo production in the past.

“Change starts within ourselves,” Dr. Mamuad told PCC partner-cooperatives who will participate in 1st FLS-DBP.

“Discipline is key to achieving high milk production with great quality,” he added.

The first cluster of participating cooperatives includes San Jose City’s Eastern Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative (EPMPC) and Simula ng Panibagong Bukas Cooperative (SIPBUCO).

Modules to be used for the training were developed by Dr. Ester Flores, head of PCC Genomics and Informatics; Dr. Danilo Aquino, PCC at CLSU director; Dr. Edwin Atabay, scientist I; Mina Abella, national coordinator for product development; Wilma del Rosario, National Impact Zone coordinator; Dr. Cyril Baltazar, national gene pool coordinator; Ma. Theresa Sawit, head of socio economic and policy research; and Estella Valiente, development officer.

Sawit, Chairman Melchor Correa and Eliseo Mislang of EPMPC, will serve as facilitators.

According to Dr. Palacpac, the idea of FLS was an adopted version of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development’s (PCCARD) project on strengthening the goat industry thru pest management.

PCC will launch FLS-DBP in Guimba, Nueva Ecija on May 20 and in Ilocos Norte on June.

Craving for ice cream? Try Papa Diddi’s unique delectations

Posted on | by Ma. Cecilia C. Irang

“I scream for ice cream!” is one of the favorite yells of ice cream lovers out there.
Undeniably, an ice cream treat makes life a little sweeter and refreshing.

Papa Diddi’s farm-to-table ice cream shop, along Maginhawa Street in Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, brings delights and pleasures especially during the summer season, guilt-free for its indulgence.

Papa Diddi’s ice cream company is a newly-opened ice cream parlor which started last March 11. Upon entering it, the interior designs are quite catchy because of the wooden shelves decorated with books and an old photo of a man smiling. This man is actually Papa Diddi himself, the late father of the present owner Paul Perez.

The shop, a tribute to Paul’s father, was inaugurated on the latter’s birthdate. Papa Diddi, who had a passion for food and reading, was a lawyer to the farmers. He would usually get local produce in exchange for his legal services and, from these, he’d prepare homemade ice cream for his family during summer.

Paul, 46, took the Ice Cream Short Course at Pennsylvania State University, in the US mainly for the planned operation of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream Company.

“Being a father to eight kids, who are all ice cream lovers, I thought it would be great to share with my own children my childhood experience of partaking my own father’s homemade ice cream,” Paul said.

He added:

“During summertime, we counter the heat with the luscious ice creams. I grew up, therefore, looking at ice cream as a labor of love and expression of gratitude for the farm blessings,” he recalled.

According to Paul, now that he has his own family, he wanted to do the same undertaking his father had. After being disappointed with the taste of local commercial ice creams and how expensive artisanal ice creams are, he ventured into his father’s passion, which is for making homemade ice cream.

“Working on homemade ice cream is like a bridge. It brings back so many good memories of rural summers of my childhood as well as it starts a new family bonding activity with my eight children. Indeed, making homemade ice cream has become a family affair – with my wife helping me select choice ingredients; with the big kids reading the recipes, and the small ones helping pour or mix the ingredients using their small hands,” he shared.

Distinct taste

What makes Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream stand out is its use of ingredients outsourced straight from local farms. The vegetables used are from Nueva Ecija and Bulacan, the cacao is from Davao and Cagayan, the black rice is from the Mountain Province, the coffee beans are from La Trinidad, while the creamy carabao’s milk that serves as the base for his creations is from Majayjay and Magdalena in Laguna. The flavors are certainly creative, original, and organic.

Papa Diddi’s highlights its unique delights with the following flavors and inscriptions:

  • Peanut Butter & Jelly – The kids’ favorite snack now turned into an unforgettable treat of ice cream.
  • Mango Ginger – The country’s favorite fruit punctuated with ginger to make it a memorable flavor.
  • Sweet Basil – An herb for many dishes is now an ice cream for many celebrations!
  • Davao Meets Bicol – Davao’s pure dark chocolate meets its match with Bicol’s famous sili.
  • Double Chocolate – The country’s most famous tableas: Batangas and Davao create a wonderful ice cream experience.
  • Never Early for Halloween – Who would ever think squash can become a wonderful ice cream flavor?
  • Roasted Strawberry – La Trinidad strawberries roasted to perfection.
  • Tarragon – Used a lot for teas, but now made into ice cream.
  • Sweet P. – Sweet potatoes ice cream: a flavor that entices everyone to come back for many times over.
  • Roasted Forbidden Rice – Mt. Province’s famous black rice made into a signature flavor.
  • Starry Surprise- Star anise is given a new twist as ice cream.
  • Avocado Rhum- The celebrated avocado fruit mixed with a Philippine rhum.
  • Minty Choco- Most ice cream lovers prefer a chocolate flavor. Adding natural mint into this, promises that they will be hooked for life.
  • Dulce Gato- Cagayan Valley’s famous Dulce Gato made into ice cream.

Paul tries to come up with new flavors for his ice cream every two weeks. He makes small batches of ice cream for his shop with some help from his staff. He crafts ice cream daily at midnight to ensure its freshness and quality.

“Our ice cream base is made of carabao’s milk. I cannot think of any other base as this is what my dad used for his ice cream back then,” he said.

“I think the uniqueness of our flavors coupled with the use of real carabaos milk is eliciting positive responses. People find it pleasantly unique and one can taste the real flavors thus they come back over and over again,” he added.

Paul uses an average of 180-200 liters of milk per week for his company’s ice cream. For him, carabaos milk is perfect for ice cream as it enhances the flavors and brings out a very creamy texture.

One ice cream scoop costs Php59 and an additional Php20 for the next scoop. Diners can also choose to add toppings for only Php10 each, turn it into a cookie sandwich for Php95, or pile it on an “ice cream nest” for additional Php25.

Papa Diddi’s attracts customers from the cross section of society – from doctors to students, from office workers to home makers. As long as these customers crave for ice cream, especially if they are in Quezon City, they consider at once going to Papa Diddi’s to quench their craving.

Currently, Papa Diddi’s has 26 different ice cream flavors. Eight are best-sellers, among them are Dulce Gato and Double Chocolate.

This artisanal ice cream parlor, because of its natural ingredients and goodness, was also featured in various blogs and articles such as wheninmanila, spot.ph, choosephilippines, sulit.ph, looloo.com, walkandeatblogspot.com, misshapenidentity and others.

Challenge

Papa Diddi’s menu varies from time to time since it depends on the time of harvest and seasonality of the ingredients. These variations, however, adds appeal to the product as it keeps customers being intrigued by the new flavors that Papa Diddi’s offer.

“From the get-go, we wanted to make ice cream using the freshest produce from the different farms, gardens and markets of the Philippines. This is very interesting, but we face a lot of challenges as we are dependent on the harvest. So, if typhoons come, our production schedule has to be adjusted,” he said.

Social responsibility

Papa Diddi’s believes that education is the key to alleviating poverty. A percentage of its sales goes to book donations for local libraries in farming communities where the ingredients are sourced from, to honor his dad’s passion for reading and helping the community.

“It’s just my small way of paying tribute to my father who introduced me to the purity of homemade ice cream and who taught me to never forget the poor,” he said.

His family’s love affair for ice cream and sharing the blessings to the communities is expressed in the firm’s self-imposed exhortation of “Supporting Communities Out Of Poverty (SCOOP)”.

Aside from his ice cream shop, Paul also has a marketing consultancy business. He is also hoping to open more branches of Papa Diddi’s Ice Cream in the future.

“We are committed to become the best Philippine ice cream producer using only Philippine produce. This commitment pushes us to be always on top of our game,” he proudly concluded.

PCC, SEARCA conduct TOT workshop on writing effective knowledge products

Posted on | by Khrizie Evert M. Padre

The Philipppine Carabao Center (PCC) recently concluded a workshop on Training of Trainers (TOT) on Writing Effective Knowledge Products (KP) facilitated by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) as part of the PCC-SEARCA funded project, “Building Capacity and Strengthening Partnership for Carabao Development Program.”

The workshop took place on April 18-21, 2016 in Basco, Batanes.

The PCC commissioned project with SEARCA aims to organize national and regional learning events to generate and share knowledge on water buffalo production, management, and its contribution to socio-economic development.

The TOT workshop is a follow through workshop on knowledge management (KM) conducted among PCC center directors and regional coordinators to formulate a cross regional learning program and to set up thematic Communities of Practice (CoP). One of the major outputs from the latest KM workshop is the identification of KPs by select lead KP writers from the 12 PC network centers.

The one-week TOT workshop reviewed the foundational concepts and principles of KM, tackled various aspects of KP and how to develop it, technically evaluated KPs following PCC guidelines on KP production, and laid out. The milestones in KP production are in preparation for the National Knowledge Sharing Forum on Carabao Based Enterprise Development (CBED) to be held this November.

Through the workshop, the lead KP writers are also expected to serve as study leaders and technical editors during the production of KPs for presentation in the national forum and publication into a National CBED Compendium. The output will also serve as the proceedings of the national forum.

Dr Eric P. Palapac, head of the PCC Knowledge Management Division, emphasized during the workshop the need to acquire more knowledge. “We like PCC to have more robust knowledge. We should also include knowledge not only generated from PCC but from all other sources of knowledge. This knowledge should not be limited in the form of technical and scientific knowledge but global contextualized knowledge as well.”

Dr. Serafin S. Talisayon, KM policy planning specialist and project team leader served as the resource person of the workshop. He was joined by the SEARCA management group led by Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz, program head, and Ms. Rosario B. Bantayan, program specialist, both from KMD; Ms. Nancy L. De Leon, program specialist and Ms. Sarah L. Quiñones, project associate, both from the SEARCA Project Development and Technical Services, extended valuable assistance on workshop logistics.

The workshop was attended by 25 participants from the 12 PC regional centers, PCC top officials and the PCC KMD.

 

La Latteria d’ Ischia Cheesy haven for lovers of world-class cheeses who need not go far

Posted on | by Khrizie Evert M. Padre

Cheese, a highly nutritious and a very palatable food, has been a popular dairy product for centuries. With its countless textures, flavors, and recipes, it is one of the most diverse types of food in the world.

In European countries, such as in Italy, cheese appears at almost every meal. Sometimes, it is incorporated as a garnish or an ingredient in dishes as diverse as pizzas or risottos and is served as a course on its own, or is paired with wine.

Cheesemaking is a method of preserving milk created in various forms. There are over 2,000 varieties of cheese developed over many centuries around the globe.

Italy has become one of the top cheese exporters to other countries. It is not just the variety but the unique taste of its cheeses that stands out for the consumers.

But one need not go as far as Italy, or make imports, to experience the best Italian cheeses. These world-class dairies are made available by La Latteria d’ Ischia, whose plant is based in Bulacan, using one quality ingredient abundantly available in the country – the water buffalo’s milk.

La Latteria d’ Ischia meaning “The Dairy of Ischia” is dedicated to producing the finest quality artisanal cheeses using the traditional cheese-making methods and techniques in Italy.

Artisan cheesemaking refers to the cheeses produced by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers. As a result, the cheeses are often more complex in taste and variety. Many are aged or ripened to achieve certain aesthetics. These qualities contrast with the more mild flavors of mass-produced cheeses in large scale operations often shipped and sold right away.

This cheesemaking business is the result of years of dreaming and planning by cheesemaker and operator Marshall Mays, an American dairy entrepreneur who has lived in Asia for the past 30 years. He first visited the Philippines in 1978 and decided to spend the rest of his time in the country.

He started his career in dairy operations five years ago when he established the Dairy Innovative Partners, Inc. (DIP). It is an affiliate of the Hong Kong-based Pacific Organic Dairy Products.

The DIP is a high-quality Italian dairy company that sells its artisanal products in Metro Manila. It has been expanding its sales to other cities in the country and export markets in Asia. The operations run from managing a herd of dairy buffaloes, buying milk from dairy cooperatives, processing of cheese and yogurt under the brand name La Latteria d’Ischia and distributing these products to restaurants, hotels and export customers.

Premium Italian cheeses

Cheese lovers’ sophisticated taste buds are sure to be delighted with the premium Italian cheeses La Latteria produces. These cheeses have been classified into two kinds, the fresh and aged types.

Among the fresh cheeses are Mozzarella di Buffala, Burrata, Mascarpone Superiore, Primo Sale, Ricotta, Crema Toscana, Scamorza while the aged cheeses are Carabino (Paprika, Herb and Garlic), Caciocavallo, Appia Vecchia, Bufala Blues, Il Meglio Paese and Maronne di Veneto.
“We proudly offer the highest quality cheese possible. The cheeses that we make are all very special. There are only few manufacturers that make cheeses like these. We won’t put anything into the market until it passes our own internal standards. It has to be perfect,” said Mays.

These hand-made cheeses are produced in small batches in a small-scale modern dairy plant established in January 2015 in Guiguinto, Bulacan. The milk it uses in creating the cheeses comes from Eastern Primary Multi Purpose Cooperative (EPMPC) in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija.

Each of the cheeses developed and sold by La Latteria d’ Ischia is described as follows:

The Mozzarella di Buffala is a fresh, succulent and soft textured buttery cheese. It goes well with salad, pasta, calzones, vegetables and various dishes.

The Burrata, meaning “buttery” in Italian, is a mix of mozzarella and cream. When it is cut open, the inside reveals a soft, creamy and buttery center filled with drops of golden whey, called “Goccie d’ Oro” to remind Italians what they are missing from home. It goes well with salads, fresh tomatoes with olive oil and crusty bread.

The Mascarpone Superiore is a smooth, sweet and light cream cheese that goes well in either sweet or savory dishes such as anchovy or a stuffing for grilled fish.

The Primo Sale is a semi-soft crumbly texture cheese blended with strands of fresh arugula greens or basil to create a light bitter contrast that freshens the flavor. It can be eaten as it is or added to fresh salad greens, fresh fruits, soup or melted over bread.

The Ricotta is light and sweet with distinct aroma made with whey that is produced while processing buffalo’s milk.

The Crema Toscana is a fresh soft cheese that is creamy, thick with a sharp blue cheese flavor without the veins.

The Scamorza is a semi-soft white cheese that is firm and has a slightly richer flavor than Mozzarella. It is hung to dry to develop a soft rind. It is commonly used to flavor baking dishes and paired well with Pinot Girgio or Orvieto.

The Carabino, a semi-hard seasoned cheese with a thick rind, is flavored with paprika, garlic and herb to balance out its rich authoritative flavor.

The Caciocavallo, literally translated as horse cheese, is a stretchable cheese that has a sweet and creamy texture, a perfect accompaniment to a glass of light wine and some seasoned bread or crackers.

The Il Meglio Paese is a popular appetizer or cheese used in pizza-making that has a rich, creamy and salty flavor.

The Appia Vecchia is a semi-hard seasoned cheese between Asiago and Fontina. Its nutty and buttery flavor comes from a long salt bath it takes before it is ripened. It can be grated or eaten in slices.

The Maronne di Veneto is a semi-soft seasoned cheese with a thin rind. It has a mild, tangy and fruity flavor that makes it as a best ingredient in salads or as a dressing and goes well when melted in risotto, quinoa or polenta.

The Bufala Blues, is a semi-soft seasoned blue-mold cheese like Gorgonzola. La Latteria’s version is called “Latte Dolce” which is a combined flavor of sweet and bitter. It can be melted over pizza and various pasta, including pasta fagioli.

Tested milk

“The milk collected daily is tested from the source as part of our quality control policy and we set feeding standards with our dairy handlers to produce the best quality milk for our products. Based on the results, we decide what cheese is best suited for it or we reject it for processing,” Mays said.

He said their processing plant maintains a sterile-technique production area and an above-the-standard protocol set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Apart from helping dairy farmers in Nueva Ecija to produce milk at global standards, the establishment also provides training to rural families by educating them on how to properly produce organic food. It collaborates with the residents of Gawad Kalinga (GK) communities.

“The collaboration with GK is the result of our efforts to help uplift the lives of the rural families. The GK has a big manpower but it lacks production skills and we are providing training with the hope of attaining the desired results,” Mays says.

He said they provide the training on cheesemaking using the techniques from Europe for the making of aged and natural cheeses that uses farm-fresh milk collected by the community.

Related to this, Mays also plans to send a small team of farmers from GK to undergo an on-the-job training in EPMPC to further expose them to actual dairy management and best practices and eventually become the teachers to other members of the community.

On the other hand, a verbal proposal of merging the dairy animals owned by the company to the program of EPMPC is ongoing.

“We believe that working with the local farmers and maintaining animal welfare are top priorities that create fine products and sustainable communities that are models of strong business. Not only are we supporting the local agricultural economies in the country but we are also adding value to the dairy industry and sharing the profits in local communities,” he said.

The growing list of their patrons speaks to their quality and reputation.

“We hope to expand our operation as our sales build up bit by bit. We are planning to put up a second plant up North so we can procure more milk from the countryside. We will also expand to certain places in the Visayas or in Mindanao in five years because there are great opportunities in there,” Mayssaid.

Senator Villar underscores PCC efforts in 19th Dairy Congress

Posted on | by Rowena G. Bumanlag

In her keynote address during the 19th Dairy Congress and Expo (DairyConEx), Senate committee chairperson in Agriculture Cynthia Villar underscored the significant contribution of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) as one of the agencies leading the continuing progress of the local dairy industry.

“The Philippine Carabao Center has not wavered in its commitment to support dairy farming families in the countryside through support mechanisms in the areas of knowledge sharing, research, technologies, extension, production and management, product development, and market assistance,” Senator Villar said in her speech at the conference venue in Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City, April 13.

When defending a proposed House Bill on Farm Tourism before a Senate hearing, Senator Villar said Senate President Frank Drillon asked her if she ever had come across with the best dairy tourism farm yet. The Senator replied: “Yes. I’ve seen one model at PCC.”

Senator Villar said more dairy industry players should focus on establishing a tourism farm. The concept of Farm Tourism Bill she said is to teach farmers how to earn from their small farms and to become teachers of best practices as well to other farmers.

The foresight of the proposed bill is to increase  farmers’ incomes by engaging in multiple business opportunities springing from agricultural tourism. This prospect can also direct the interest of young generations to converge in the countryside with the vibrant promise that is in farm tourism.

“I staunchly encourage farmers to become teachers of technologies and practices as well besides being productive farmers themselves. I strongly encourage you to get accredited to TESDA and you can then proceed to converting your farm into a learning farm,” she said.

Senator Villar facilitated the provision of a PhP500 million funding dedicated for TESDA agricultural training where all interested teachers of agriculture can get accreditation.

“My dream is for farmers to have a family farm school in all 1,600 towns in the Philippines so that more farmers will be taught of how to do farming using the right technologies, mechanization, and how to imbibe a business sense,” she said.

Senator Villar said small farms have the potential to prosper but because of lack of business sense, financial literacy, technology, and mechanization, progress is impeded. This is why, she said, education is the key to propel them to sustained development.

PCC is already providing such array of support, she said, encouraging small hold dairy farmers to have a “business sense” by creating viable and sustainable carabao-based enterprises in the countryside.

“You should not be ashamed that you are small. All great things start by being small,” she said,  directing her message to small hold dairy farmers.

She added, “there is a great potential in the local dairy industry and the small milk producing sector contributes much in the total milk production.”

Senator Villar said with the increasing and growing number of small hold dairy farmers contributing in the national dairy industry, the focus of the government should now be directed to improving their cause through provision of support mechanisms and facilities.

“With our concerted efforts, we will achieve our goal of a progressive local dairy industry benefitting thousands of dairy farmers in the provinces,” she said.

Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala, through agriculture undersecretary Dennis Guerrero, agrees with Senator Villar that a progressive dairy industry is one of the keys to economic development in the countryside.

Secretary Alcala said support mechanisms for dairy farmers will be continuously strengthened to make this happen through provision of the best technologies and technical and capability enhancement assistance in the span of the value chain—from production to processing and marketing.

Efforts of the dairy industry, he said, should be focused on producing quality milk to enable the Philippines to obtain itself a significant share in the world market.

“Let us continue to exchange knowledge on dairying and meaningfully contribute in the progress of the local dairy industry,” Secretary Alcala said.

PCC acting executive director Dr. Arnel del Barrio vowed the PCC will continue to seize opportunities to realize its mandate of providing increased incomes and improved well-being for the rural farming families by leading the DA network in deliberate efforts to conserve, propagate and promote the Philippine carabao as a source of milk, meat, and draft power and hide, and serve as the lead agency for livestock biotechnology.

The 19th DairyConEx, adopting the theme “Gatas Pinoy: Paunlarin, Tangkilikin, Palaganapin!”, was attended by over 600 delegates composed of dairy farmers, cooperative members, private sector and industry entrepreneurs, and government employees in the livestock sector.

Some 50 exhibitors participated in the three-day conference to showcase their respective technologies and products.

Annually organized by the Dairy Confederation of the Philippines (DairyCon), the congress aims to encourage people to go into dairying to create wealth, livelihood and share the benefits of economic development nationwide. The ultimate goal is to create a permanent sector for dairy with globally competitive professional dairymen and farm workers.

It is co-organized by the Department of Agriculture through the National Dairy Authority (NDA) and co-sponsored by the PCC.

 

PCC 23rd anniversary celebration underscores F2F

Posted on | by Ma. Cecilia C. Irang

The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) celebrated its 23rd founding anniversary last March 29-31 at the PCC headquarters in the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija. This year’s theme was: “F2F: Boosting Employees’ Potential Toward Productivity”.

In a video presentation showcased during the program to give the audience an appreciation of the theme, F2F or face-to-face was derived as “a synergistic approach to outline and achieve performance targets through interfacing, collaborating or partnering between and among operating units and regional centers across the PCC network with other carabao development program partners”.

“We are beyond the age of puberty which means we are now adults. This indicates that we should strengthen more our partnerships toward fruitful outcomes,” Dr. Arnel N. Del Barrio, PCC acting executive director said.

PCC employees across the PCC network nationwide, officials from Central Luzon State University, and Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology, social entrepreneurs and interns from Gawad Kalinga (GK) Enchanted Farm, and some press people from media outfits in the province graced the occasion. 

Antonio “Tony” Meloto, founder of GK, served as the guest of honor. In an inspiring and motivational speech, he encouraged everyone in the audience to relate well with one another to boost each other’s potentials. He said if this is done collectively, it will greatly contribute to the organization’s better performance. He said GK is willing to sustain partnership with PCC in pushing forward social entrepreneurship in the countryside thru the production and marketing of carabao’s milk. Through this, the vision of living the Filipino dream in our homeland is never a remote possibility.

Minda R. Diloy, this year’s anniversary chairperson, motivated PCC employees in the same manner saying that:

“More focus should be placed on making each and everyone feel that work is more than just a job but a kind of work that has higher purpose, achieved thru sincere and meaningful face-to-face interactions such as those relationships we build with our partners,” she said.

As a result of meaningful F2F interaction, PCC’s outstanding employees who have excelled in the performance of their respective duties were recognized during the anniversary program. 

Dr. Caro B. Salces of PCC at Ubay Stock Farm was recognized as outstanding center director; Dr. Ester B. Flores, national genetic improvement program coordinator, as outstanding supervisor; Mario M. Delizo, Project Development Officer II, as outstanding development officer; Excel Rio S. Maylem, Science Research Specialist II, as outstanding researcher; and Rogel dela Cuesta, Administrative Officer V, as outstanding support staff.

Each awardee received a cash prize of Php30,000, plaque of recognition, and a study tour grant abroad related to their respective fields of discipline.

The search for laudable employees was spearheaded by Dr. Liza G. Battad, chair of the Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) committee and chief of Planning and Special Projects Division. 

Other highlights of the three-day anniversary celebration included thanksgiving mass by Rev. Fr. Tito Y. Maratas Jr. as the celebrant, PCC-PSAS lecture series and animal medical mission, seminar on “Enriching Employee Engagement toward Enhanced Productivity” discussed by Success Coach Randy Esguerra, Employees’ General Assembly, and recognition of PCC retirees.

The PCC was established on March 27, 1992 when then Pres. Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 7307 or the Carabao Development Act of 1992. It became operational in 1993 when former Pres. Fidel V. Ramos launched the National Carabao Development Program.

 

PCC-PSAS lecture series, animal medical mission address parasite control in livestock

Posted on | by Paul John Villamor

Animal scientists, researchers, and experts from the Philippine Carabao Center and Philippine Society of Animal Science recently convened at the PCC headquarters to proactively respond to increasing risks on parasite infestation among different livestock species. The PCC-PSAS lecture series activity was held at the PCC headquarters and animal outreach program at Brgy. Licaong, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija last March 29.

Dr. Virginia Venturina, dean of Central Luzon State University (CLSU)-College of Veterinary Science and Medicine and Dr. Elizabeth Molina, professor of College of Veterinary Science and Medicine and director for extension of the University of Southern Mindanao were tapped as resource persons.

Dr. Venturina delivered a lecture on the topic: “Sustainable Control of Gastrointestinal Worm Infection in Goats Towards Increased Productivity.” Dr. Molina, on the other hand, discussed the preventive measures and treatment on fasciolosis, which is one of the leading causes of the decreasing number of carabaos and other ruminants.

The lectures were followed by an animal medical mission at Brgy. Licaong Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. PCC veterinarians and CLSU-Veterinary Medicine students performed deworming in various ruminants such as carabaos, cows, goats and even dogs.

University of the Philippines – Los Baños Professor Emeritus Dr. Salcedo Eduardo was hailed as this year’s honoree, a recognition given by PSAS to an individual who pulled off an outstanding contribution in the field of science and technology.

Dr. Salcedo’s researches on livestock parasites, particularly on helminthology paved his way to becoming an academician in the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

According to the evaluation of NAST, the works of Eduardo significantly contributed in the undertaking of sound control measures in the conservation, and management of livestock animals consequently ensuring public health.

PSAS President Dr. Eric Palacpac, who is also the PCC-R4D national coordinator, said Dr. Salcedo’s meritorious accomplishments make well-deserving of the honor. He also assured the participants that the PCC-PSAS lecture series will continue to be an avenue to elevate the knowledge and skills of researchers and students in the animal science discipline.

PCC researchers, center directors and staff; PSAS members and veterinary medicine students of CLSU attended the program which featured invited speakers.