National Carabao Industry Briefer
The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), champions the Carabao Development Program with the mission of empowering rural farming communities through sustainable carabao-based livelihoods. Created under Republic Act No. 7307, DA-PCC’s mandates include conserving, propagating, and promoting carabaos for milk, meat, draft power, and hide. Its three-pronged program—genetic improvement, enterprise development, and research for development—supports productivity, profitability, and sustainability for Filipino farmers.
The DA-PCC’s 12 regional centers serve as the backbone of its operations. These strategically located centers facilitate the implementation of carabao-based programs across the Philippines, ensuring that assistance is extended to all carabao-producing regions. By virtue of DA Administrative Order No. 9, Series of 2008, it also pursues an additional mandate as the national lead agency for livestock biotechnology research and development in the Department of Agriculture. The DA-PCC also hosts the DA-Livestock Biotechnology Center, which became operational on August 6, 2014, and the National Livestock Cryobank, a repository for germplasm and biological samples from diverse livestock species.
Over a decade, DA-PCC facilitated 1,125,936 artificial insemination (AI) services, resulting in 233,384 births. It also loaned dairy bulls to areas with limited AI access, recording 82,970 bull loan services and 49,469 calves produced.
From 2021 to December 2024, the DA-PCC offered production assistance to 818,074 clients, extended market development services to 284 organized groups, and trained over 101,192 clients. The national and regional impact zones and DA-PCC’s institutional herds sustained by the DA-PCC regional centers contributed a record-high 35,928,379.97 of carabao-derived products valued at PHP5,251,092,429.25.
There were 227 existing cooperatives/associations of 13,193 carabao owners engaged in carabao-based enterprises. From 2020 to 2024, 144 cooperatives, 83 associations, 24 LGUs, 8 SUCs, 86 private family modules, and three corporations summarized the number of DA-PCCs assisted clients nationwide under market development support. Currently, 44 cooperatives across different regions have achieved CSO accreditation. As part of a new initiative, the agency has also assisted dairy carabao farmers and cooperatives in securing their NDA-LTO, resulting in the approval of 27 assisted farms and 3 milk collection centers across the PCC network. Additionally, 59 cooperatives and associations have successfully obtained FDA-LTO accreditation, further strengthening their operations and impact.
DA-PCC’s efforts along this line capacitated the FCAs to expand their business and embark on more significant ventures, such as participating in the national milk feeding program. Since the program’s inception in 2019, under the DepEd-School-Based Feeding Program, 43 DA-PCC-assisted dairy cooperatives supplied 116,949,208 milk packs to 3,967,668 beneficiaries in nationwide, resulting in a total gross income of PHP1,731,476,065.00.
Similarly, under the DSWD-Supplementary Feeding Program, 41 cooperatives supplied 17,429,458 milk packs to 328,155 beneficiaries nationwide, generating a gross income of PHP333,894,526.00.
The total revenues that the DA-PCC assisted cooperatives generated through the National Milk Feeding Program as an institutional market is amounting to PHP2,065,370,591.00. It is imperative that the National Milk Feeding Program of DepED and DSWD have changed the lives of our small-holder farmers.
The milk feeding program has provided nutrition to children in need and generated more than 130,000 jobs across the dairy value chain, creating a multiplier effect in rural economies.
To address the challenge of supplying milk to malnourished children in remote areas, the DA-PCC, in collaboration with its network of assisted cooperatives, now has retort facilities in Isabela, Science City of Muñoz, Batangas, and Sorsogon. In addition, the DA-PCC has strategically partnered with San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation, linking its assisted cooperatives to San Miguel’s advanced processing and packaging capabilities. This collaboration enables the production of high-quality sterilized milk in cans, extending the shelf life of milk and facilitating efficient distribution to underserved regions.
The ALAB-Karbawan projects have made significant strides nationwide, dispersing a total of 4,719 dairy animals to 2,114 beneficiaries with a total of 65 processing facilities established nationwide. These efforts are complemented by the Carabao Herd Buildup Project, which aims to accelerate the increase of local dairy stocks and consequently, local milk production, by acquiring animals for rearing at DA-PCC institutional and cooperative-led agistment farms.
To ensure the highest standards of quality and operational excellence, nine out of 12 regional centers of DA-PCC have maintained ISO certification, aligning their processes with international standards and meeting clients’ needs and expectations.
It is also the DA-PCC’s pride that the regional center in Cagayan has been recognized as the first government institution certified for Good Animal Husbandry Practices. Additionally, DA-PCC’s Panay Dairy Buffalo Gene Pool received its License to Operate in 2023, underscoring adherence to regulatory compliance and operational excellence.
The success of the Carabao Development Program is rooted in the strong collaboration between the DA-PCC and a wide range of stakeholders, including local government units, national government agencies, international agencies, partner institutions and farmer cooperatives. These partnerships have enhanced the delivery of services and facilitated the scaling of carabao-based enterprises, ensuring long-term sustainability and resilience in the industry.
The DA-PCC’s active engagement with international partners, in particular, has provided access to new technologies, funding for infrastructure development, and market linkages that support the growth of the Philippine carabao industry. Through continued investment in innovation, sustainability, and growth, the DA-PCC is positioning carabao not only as a source of economic prosperity but also as a catalyst for rural development, food security, and socio-economic empowerment.
Through its continuous efforts, the DA-PCC network will continue to pave the way for innovation, efficiency, and ultimately contributing to the achievement of the Department of Agriculture’s mission of Masaganang Agrikultura, Maunlad na Ekonomiya toward a transformed Philippines.