genetics is now on sale at the Knowledge Resource Management Center or the Information
Unit of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.
Availability of “Appreciating the Carabao”, written by development journalist Anselmo
Roque, followed its official launching last March 26 during the celebration marking PCC’s 17th
anniversary at the agency’s headquarters.
The book was presented by the author to Agriculture Undersecretary Salvador S. Salacup,
who represented Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla as guest of honor and keynote
speaker.
Roque, who holds a Ph.D. degree in Development Education and who has already authored
10 books, is currently a correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a national
broadsheet.
He explained that “Appreciating the Carabao” attempts “to give readers fuller understanding
of the many aspects in the life of the water buffalo, and the research and development
efforts being spearheaded by PCC to upgrade its status to one that is better than what it
was previously known for.”
The native swamp buffalo, often referred to as a “beast of burden” and a “mainstay of
Philippine agriculture”, is now a symbol of increased incomes for many small-hold farming
families through the establishment of carabao-based enterprises in the country.
This is the outcome of PCC’s National Carabao Development Program, which includes the
utilization of reproductive biotechnologies to improve the genetic potentials of the carabao
as source of milk and meat, aside from draft power.
