Author: Mari Joan Nefulda

Reduction of malnutrition cases and opening of opportunities for income generation among farmers were seen as big benefits that will come from a newly inaugurated dairy production and processing center in a village in Santa, Ilocos Sur.

This optimistic view was emphasized by Governor Ryan Singson during the inauguration recently of the center in Barangay Cabangaran.

The processing facilities, located inside the dairy farm of the Ilocos Sur provincial government, were put up upon the initiative of Gov. Singson and provincial veterinarian and project head Dr. Joey Warren Bragado.

According to the governor, since the time he was vice mayor of Vigan City years back, he already nurtured an interest in putting up a government-led dairy project. He said then Vigan City mayor Eva Marie Medina allocated Php1 million for the carabao dairy project in the city.

He added he personally saw the success of the project in that city and how this helped the farmers a lot in providing for their daily needs.

Gov. Singson underscored that the establishment of a dairy project for the whole province was his first priority when he assumed leadership of the provincial government.

The Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur allocated Php14 million budget for the initial procurement of 17 crossbred heifers, three pure Bulgarian Murrah buffaloes (BMB), and two BMB bulls; construction of animal facilities and milk processing center; and development of 20-ha pasture area.

The Philippine Carabao Center at Mariano Marcos State University (PCC-MMSU), he said, assisted in sourcing out and selecting crossbred heifers (with atleast 75% Murrah bloodline) and purebred bulls to be raised in the center. It also provided seed stocks and planting materials such as forage grasses and legumes.

The dairy processing center has since served as a training venue for hand-milking and milk processing, he added.

“We want the province to have its own source of milk and we also eye the project as an answer to malnutrition cases in many municipalities. Also, this will become a source of livelihood of the farmers who will engage in dairying,” Gov. Singson said.

The governor said he envisions the province to become a model province in the implementation of a dairy project and milk supplementation program for the malnourished children.

Three of the buffaloes are currently lactating and according to Gov. Singson he intends to send to donate the first batches of milk production in the center for the evacuees in the Marawi City conflict as well as the victims of the earthquake in Leyte.

He thanked the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region I and the PCC for their support as he voiced the hope for a continuing and fruitful partnership by the provincial government of Ilocos Sur and these agencies.

PCC-MMSU center director Grace Marjorie R. Recta, in her message, said the provincial government’s dairy farm has other projects in the offing. Among these, she said, are vermi-composting, feedlot fattening, and agri-tourism.

She expressed hope that the processing center can also absorb the milk coming from the dairy farmers in other places in the province and also serve as a marketing outlet for the milk products produced by the dairy farmers’ families.

Other officials present during the inauguration were Dr. Annie Bares representing DA Regional Executive Director Edillo Narciso, the members of the provincial board, officials of the local government unit of Santa, Ilocos Sur, and heads of offices and departments at the provincial capitol.

Milk supplementation carried out for daycare children in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija and Talibon, Bohol for 120 days proved to achieve significant results.

Evaluation of the outcome of the program showed that none of the previously reported 123 underweight children in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija remained malnourished after the milk supplementation.  On the other hand, the number of underweight daycare children in Talibon, Bohol decreased from 309 to 222 after the program.

It was also revealed that there was a significant difference in the anthropometric measurements (weight and height) of the schoolchildren before and after the milk supplementation. Daycare children in Aliaga and Talibon gained an average weight of 3.23kg and 1.56kg, respectively; and grew by 4.85 cm and 4.34 cm in that order.

The pilot collaborative program of PCC and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), titled “Pilot Nutrition and Livelihood Interventions through a Milk Supplementation Program under the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) and Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP)”, was completed last May. It consisted of two components: milk supplementation and livelihood.

The milk supplementation component aimed to improve the height and weight of the children using the Child Growth Standard (CGS) by providing them with 200ml of toned milk for 120 days. It was in addition to the daily regular meals they received under the Supplementary Feeding Program of DSWD.

The livelihood component, on the other hand, aimed to improve the socioeconomic conditions of sustainable livelihood program (SLP) beneficiaries or poor, smallholder-dairy farmers with the acquisition of profit-generating enterprises or employment in carabao-based enterprises (CBEs).

It also targeted to help the dairy farmers in marketing their carabao’s milk and to encourage partnerships among other institutions.

“Milk supplementation program is important for the development of the local dairy industry. Through our partnership, we have seen the importance of tapping other agencies to meet our development objectives not only in improving the nutrition of children of rural farming families but also in increasing the income of dairy farmers”, Dr. Arnel del Barrio, PCC executive director, said during the recent joint program evaluation workshop on the completed pilot milk supplementation project.

During the evaluation workshop, each region presented and discussed how the program was implemented in its area of coverage. It also tackled the results, issues and concerns, as well as recommendations they encountered.

Each case was further evaluated by the regional teams using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.

“It was proven that PCC is a good partner to DSWD, therefore, we will definitely continue partnering with you. Based on the presentations, the expected outcome was met. However, we need to rethink of a strategy to meet the desired livelihood outcome. We can develop and propose a separate guideline for this (carabao-based) business module based on the context of carabao value chain,” Ms. Amada Pornaras, DSWD SLP Director, said. “I also want to recognize the support given by the LGU for this initiative,” she added.

One of the program participants, Evangeline Mercado, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer I in Aliaga, also shared her feedback, saying:

“We’ve seen the importance of the program considering that it helped address malnutrition by totally eradicating the incidence of being underweight among daycare children in our town.”

More research focus should be placed on directly addressing the problems in the carabao industry such as raising the country’s milk production from 1% to 10%, among other challenges indicated in the Value Chain Analysis (VCA).

Dr. Arnel del Barrio, PCC Executive Director, made this call to PCC researchers during the Research for Development (R4D) In-house Review last July 4-6.

“The Department of Agriculture’s objectives are to make food available and affordable, increase income of farmers and fisherfolks, and increase resilience in the practice of agriculture to climate change risks,” Dr. del Barrio said.

He said PCC researches should be clearly aligned with the objectives being pursued by the DA.

The Review, according to Dr. Anabelle Sarabia, Research for Development Division Chief, is done yearly to evaluate the completed and ongoing research activities in the agency. She added this annual activity serves as a venue where research results are presented and evaluated among the scientific community. It also serves as an opportunity to motivate researchers to strengthen their line of interest with that of the agency’s mandate and to recognize those who generate excellent research outputs.

“Interaction and sharing of learnings between and among scientists and researchers are important modalities in this review to ensure that research efforts are monitored and evaluated according to the agency’s R4D agenda,” Dr. Sarabia explained.

The review is comprised of 43 ongoing and completed researches, undergraduate student theses, internally- and externally-funded studies, and commissioned researches.

Adjudged “Best Paper” in the completed research category was the study titled “Enhancing AI Efficiency through Synchronized Ovulation and Fixed Time AI in Water Buffaloes.” This research was conducted by Dr. Eufrocina Atabay, Dr. Edwin Atabay, Excel Rio Maylem, Dr. Ramesh Tilwani, Dr. Esther Flores, and Dr. Anabelle Sarabia.

The paper titled “Developmental Competence of Embryos Produced in Vitro from High and Low-Fertile Bulls Classified by Fourier Harmonic Analysis,” presented by Herren Donna Daag, won as the “Best Undergraduate Student Research Paper”. The research was conducted under the advisory of Dr. Peregrino Duran and Dr. Danilda Duran.

Dr. Joram Gautane, science research specialist of the Animal Health and Biosafety Unit, who presented the study “Development of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Assay Based Test Kit for the Detection/Screening of Caprine Arthritis Ecephalitis Virus (CAEV)” which he co-authored, bagged the “Best Presenter” award.

 

The evaluators of the presented researches were Dr. Ma. Anita M. Bautista, UP Diliman Assistant Professor VII;  Dr. Consuelo Amor S. Estrella, University of the Philippines-Los Baños Associate Professor II, Dr. Cristina F. Olo, Cavite State University Professor VI ; and Peter James C. Icalia, Mariano Marcos State University Instructor III.

The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), Department of Education (DepEd), and the local government unit (LGU) of the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija forged an agreement last June 21 for a milk supplementation program that will reduce malnutrition incidence at least among children in Muñoz elementary schools.

Representatives of the three entities signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) at the Muñoz North Central School for the implementation of the program.

The program also aims to help the dairy farmers in the marketing of their milk produce.

This is in line with the project titled, “Nutrition Intervention through Milk Supplementation Program for Primary School Children in Nueva Ecija,” a collaborative school-based research of PCC, DepEd, and LGU in support of the House Bill No. 5269.

The bill, which was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives, aims to promote nutrition among school children, especially those belonging to low-income households, protect them from malnutrition and enhance their learning capacities. It also includes the institutionalization of the National School Feeding Program (NSFP) for public kindergarten and elementary pupils.

Under the MOA, the PCC and its partner-institutions will provide the milk supplement to Grade 1 pupils of 12 identified schools in the Science City of Muñoz where there is high prevalence of malnutrition.

Signatories of the MOA were PCC Executive Director Dr. Arnel del Barrio, City Mayor Nestor Alvarez, and Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Catalina Paez. Witnesses to the signing ceremony were Assistant City Schools Division Superintendent Ronilo Hilario, PCC Division Chief- Research for Development Dr. Annabelle Sarabia, Senior Education Program Specialist Dr. Leoval Dela Cruz, and City Cooperative Officer Engr. Joel Manuel.

The undertaking will be implemented through a cost-sharing basis among the concerned agencies. PCC will provide 107,508 sachets of 200 ml pasteurized toned buffalo’s milk for 204 feeding days (one school year) for 527 Grade I pupils. The commodity will cost Php1,290,096.

The LGU- Science City of Muñoz, on the other hand, shares the delivery cost of Php158,130 from PCC to the intended public schools and other expenses necessary to ensure the quality of milk after the release from PCC.

The city schools division of Muñoz takes care of other logistical support to ensure smooth implementation of the project such as expenses for meetings and office supplies.

“This project is aligned with the mandate of PCC to improve the general well-being of our rural farming families by engaging them in carabao-based enterprises and to reduce malnutrition problem among children by drinking carabao’s milk. Providing for better nutrition for the children is a wise development investment for their future,” Dr. del Barrio, in his inspirational message, said.

Nutritionists said that carabao’s milk contains riboflavin or vitamin B2 needed for normal growth, an agent against skin swelling, inflammation of the lining of mouth and tongue, and dizziness. Its vitamin A content helps in maintaining good eyesight while vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus are valuable nutrients for strong teeth and bones.

Mayor Alvarez disclosed that his office and the school’s division superintendent of Muñoz are currently studying the possibility of passing an ordinance that prohibits the sale of junk food and soft drinks in all school canteens in the city. Once finalized and approved, he said, the junk foods will be replaced by dairy products such as carabao’s milk, and other healthy food and drinks.

“My dream is for the schoolchildren in this city to become brighter, healthier and more enthusiastic. One way of achieving this is through this milk supplementation program. We are willing to provide the necessary support to broaden and sustain this program,” Mayor Alvarez said.

The parents of the children, who were noticeably delighted about the program, expressed their appreciation to PCC, DepEd, and to the LGU-Science City of Muñoz for extending their help in ensuring the nutritional welfare of their children.

“My child has been drinking carabao’s milk since May and I can say that he doesn’t get sick too often now. I used to buy it from our neighbor but it is not always available. Thanks to this program, my son would be able to drink carabao’s milk regularly for free,” Rachele Niegos, a mother of one of the Grade 1 pupils at Muñoz North Central School, said.

A similar program is also being carried out in selected schools in San Jose City.

A project team of PCC is identifying two more municipalities in Nueva Ecija for the implementation of the milk supplementation program in elementary schools.

 

Thirteen carabao’s milk traders gained better understanding and skills on milk quality testing as well as on the safety assurance of consumers in a consultative meeting cum training held last June 9 at the PCC national headquarters in the Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija.

The meeting was aimed at encouraging the milk traders in Nueva Ecija in assessing and testing first the quality of milk they are buying and trading for the benefit of the consumers.

According to Wilma del Rosario, PCC Senior Science Research Specialist and NIZ coordinator, a similar activity will be done quarterly as one of the ways in implementing the Food Safety Act. It will also serve, she added, as a preparation for those involved in the dairy industry for the implementation of the proposed Philippine National Standards for Hygienic Milk.

“The milk traders also play a big role in strengthening niche markets for the carabao’s milk,” del Rosario said.

The consultative meeting also involved discussions on “Assessment of Milking and Handling Practices along the Milk Value Chain in Nueva Ecija Cum Food Safety Act of 2013”, led by Mina Abella, supervising science research specialist, and “Milk Quality Evaluation and Standards”, led by Frederick Bacani, science research assistant.

The participants in the event were from the cities of Palayan and Cabanatuan and from the towns of Talavera, Quezon, and Aliaga. As traders, they procure the carabao’s milk from the dairy farmers in different places and supply it to the milk processors in Talavera, Cabiao, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Tarlac.

As part of the event, they were allowed to do actual milk quality testing through organoleptic tests and other essential tests under the supervision of Daisy Flores, science research assistant.

After the training, each of the participants received a milk testing kit. The kit included a lactometer, graduated cylinder (250 ml cap), 10 pieces of conical tube (15 ml cap), one set of computed specific gravity table, one bottle of 60% ethanol (500 ml), one pipette (10 ml), one recording logbook, and a bottle of 70% ethyl alcohol.

True to its mandate of conserving, promoting, and propagating the carabao as a source of milk, meat, draft power and hide, the Philippine Carabao Center is continuously exploring possible conservation sites for the country’s native carabaos.

One of them which was recently identified is the Calayan Island in Cagayan.

Why Calayan? 

Located about 39 km west-southwest of Babuyan Island off the north coast of the Philippines and belonging to the Babuyan Islands group in the China Sea, Calayan Island has been identified as a place in Northern Luzon with no other breeds of water buffaloes, except the native ones, introduced to the island.

The exploration of the conservation site was initiated by Dir. Franklin Rellin, center director of PCC at Cagayan State University (PCC@CSU). He discussed and presented the PCC’s programs and services to Calayan Mayor Alfonso Llopis and municipal agriculturist Lino Llopis. The local government unit (LGU) then committed to donate 50 hectares of land in support of the establishment of the conservation site.

In order to establish the species identification of the native carabaos found in the island, researchers from the PCC national headquarters have assisted the PCC@CSU by undertaking morphological characteristics and molecular identification of the animals.

They were composed of Dr. Ester Flores, Project Development Officer IV; Laila Labonite, Science Research Specialist I; and Sherwin Matias, Science Research Specialist I of the Genomics and Bioinformatics unit and Lilian Villamor, Senior Science Research Specialist; Alexander Paraguas, Science Research Specialist I; and David Antalan III, Science Research Assistant of the Cryobank unit.

The research team collected 79 whole blood samples and documented the morphological features and morphometrics of the species.

The biological samples were processed in the PCC national headquarters facilities. They encompassed the DNA isolation and the downstream molecular analysis for species identification.

Informative genetic markers were also used, such as the Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from the mitochondrial DNA and the recommended Food Agriculture Organization short tandem repeats (FAO-STR) or “microsatellites” from the nuclear DNA, for the analysis.

Both genetic markers revealed that the representative samples collected from the island were native carabaos based on their relatedness to other native carabaos in other provinces in Luzon and in other countries.

Meanwhile, the data which entails the presence of subpopulation or other breeds of native carabaos in Calayan is still underway.  A better understanding on the species identification of native buffaloes in Calayan based on their molecular and phenotypic characters will elucidate the evolutionary history and domestication of native buffaloes in the country.

Moreover, the data will be used for the strategic conservation management of the buffalo species in the island.

The undertaking of the activities conducted was made possible through the DA Livestock Program-funded project titled, “Genetic Diversity of the Philippine Carabao using mtDNA (COI) and microsatellite markers (FAO STRs)”.

Conservation management

PCC’s conservation efforts are done in two ways: conservation by improving its economic value and conservation by preserving, cryobanking, and maintaining the good genes of native carabaos.

“This is not just conservation. It is actually helping the carabao population in the island become more productive and become really better animals. When we say productive, we improve the herd by selecting good breeder bulls and we improve the population diversity by also managing the inbreeding for them,” Dr. Flores said.

The team has started acquiring the total herd inventory of the carabaos in the island and is applying ear tagging to identify and classify them according to age groups.

“The population of native carabaos in Calayan is unique and already homogenous so the more that we should be very careful in managing the inbreeding of the population and that is where we will help,” Dr. Flores said.

She added that it is very critical to identify the bulls which are suitable for breeding. Thus, she said, they will be needing the information about the established pedigree and the inventory of all the animals for the whole island to make it easier for the team to help manage the inbreeding concerns.

So far, the other conservation sites for native carabaos which were identified for exploration were Carlos P. Garcia Island in Bohol and Biri Island in Samar for the Visayas. The team is still assisting in identifying possible sanctuaries for native carabaos in Mindanao.