Introducing Dairying : The Ilocos Norte Experience
Introducing Dairying in the Ilocos provinces was never an easy task, Rarticularlv to Ilocano farmers who thought that the only use of the carabao l5 fOY’ work.
The initial challenge of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) when its operations started in 1995 was how to convince the farmers to adopt the artificial insemination (Al) technology with the benefit of getting a fast growing calf and a female offspring called the mestiza or bufala, that has the potential to produce milk in a period of 300 days. The next bigger challenge was to show that there is indeed milk and money from the carabao.
INSTITUTIONAL DAIRY HERD ESTABLISHMENT
While PCC at MMSU technicians were actively conducting AI in the field, Dr. Zosimo M. Battad, the first center director, found it necessary for the Center to establish its own show window of a small-scale dairy operation. From the meager MOOE funds released in 1995, a very sturdy 4 m x 10 m carabao shed was constructed, initially housing three Indian Murrah bulls from the Selarce farms, which were given later to farmers under the PCC Bull Loan Program in July 1996.
In July 1997, the Center obtained five Bulgarian Murrah buffalo (BMB) heifers from the batch of imported herd in PCC at Central Luzon State University (CLSU). Prior to this, pasture establishment and animal shed repairs/renovations were done. Soon after Dr. Battad was appointed PCC deputy director in September 1996, Asst. Pro£ Grace Marjorie R. Recta succeeded him. She also made a lot of convincing, stood her ground against the university administration’s idea then to set up the buffalo project in the far flung mountainous, and contested university properties in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte.
The initial herd served as training base for PCC staff to hone their skills in pregnancy diagnosis, Al and in dairy management. Florencio Malicad, Jr., the farm manager then, went through a week-long on-the-job training at the PCC at CLSU Dairy Farm to learn the ABCs of dairy buffalo production and management.
In April 1998, one of the five BMB heifers gave birth and had an average daily milk yield of 4 to 5 L [liters] for a period of 300 days. The center used an ice box for milk storage. The first customers were university personnel who, after having tasted the buffalo milk, preferred it over the dairy cow’s milk produced in the University Dairy Coop. However, the center encountered a shortage of milk for the calf and buyers and, hence, resorted to feeding the buffalo calf with skim milk while the buffalo milk was sold for human consumption at P20 a liter.
Sometime in May and June 1998, 50 head of BMB cows and heifers were shipped from PCC at Central Mindanao University. Twenty-five of these were awarded to the Nalasin MultiPurpose Cooperative in Paoay, Ilocos Norte to constitute the 25-Cow Dairy Buffalo Module, and the rest were left to the Center to showcase the institutional dairy module.
Upon permission from the university, the Center converted the former work area of the then completed university potato project beside the PCC staff office at the back of the Crops Research Laboratory into a temporary dairy barn for the animals. In October, the staff and recipients of the 25-cow dairy module underwent a five-day training on milk collection, handling, and processing. The training made all the PCC staff quite adept at preparing pastillas de leche.
In November 1999, one cow from the second batch of heifers gave birth and produced an average 5.2 L of milk per day for a year. With only one lactating cow, the supply could not meet the demand because customers now included non-MMSU personnel. Starting in January 2000, one cow calved after another such that 17 cows were already in the milking line at the end of 2000. The management practice then was to allow the calf to suckle first from the dam for at least three months. After this period, milking was done by hand.
Some of the cows had low milk yield, while others were difficult to restrain and milk by hand. The average daily milk production per cow ranged from 2 to 6 L, while the lactation period lasted from 268 to as long as 465 days. Hence, the Center had a problem on where to sell or dispose the milk.
Fortunately or perhaps a blessing in disguise, the MMSU Dairy Coop was encountering problems in its milk supply for the NDA-LGU-MMSU Milk Feeding Program in the primary schools. Hence, it absorbed some of the buffalo milk. To further promote its milk products, the Center actively participated in trade fairs and exhibits in Region 1.
From 2001 to 2006, the Center consistently produced 9 to 12 calves per year and created market awareness for carabao milk and its products. Walk-in consumers have increased, especially after the construction of the new PCC office in an area along the national highway in Brgy. Tabug, Batac City. The site was provided during the administration of Dr. Saturnino M. Ocampo Jr. as university president.
Since 2005, PCC at MMSU has been supplying the fresh milk requirement of the City Government of Laoag for its Milk for Vigor Feeding Project. The milk is distributed during the regular Rang-ay ti Barangay Programs, and the supplemental milk feeding program of the City Nutrition Council.
The center also regularly supplies pastillas de leche to the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center, to serve as dessert for patients. Large orders for the candy are also occasionally received, as these are given to balikbayans as pabaon or pasalubong in Hawaii, Hong Kong, and the US Mainland. Regular buyers come from Vigan City, La Union, Pangasinan, and Cagayan. The demand is great that the daily produce has to be apportioned to please all customers.
Annual sales from milk gradually increased from P52,550.50 in 2000 to P92,870.50 in 2001, then slightly dropped to P74,783 in 2002 but jacked up to P290,187 in 2004. The retail price also increased gradually and annually from R15 a liter in 2000 to ‘P50 a liter in January 2007.
To date, the institutional dairy module has generated sales from milk and other dairy products of more than P500,000. It is now a “must-see” project in the itinerary of lakbay-aral groups, a laboratory and training ground for agriculture students in the university, and other private practitioners seeking for employment in dairy farms overseas.
VILLAGE-BASED DAIRY MODULES
To showcase a similar dairy project at the village-level, the 25-cow dairy buffalo module was launched. Due to the unexpected delivery of the animals to the Center in June 1998, evaluation of prospective cooperatives was done in a hurry. To them, the idea of dairy farming using the buffalo was quite new.
The Nalasin Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc. (NMPCI) in Brgy. Nalasin, Paoay, Ilocos Norte was the most qualified among the numerous registered active coops evaluated by the center’s community organizer. After discussing the benefits of the project and the requirements such as provision of shelter, area planted with improved pasture grasses, and the mortuary fund, many members signified interest. However, only 22 dared to take the risk of caring for an imported BMB heifer worth R153,442.20 and signed a contract with the PCC, with members of their families as co-borrowers or witnesses. Three of them even had two dairy buffalos each.
Before the animals were awarded in July 1998, the prospective recipients underwent a two-day seminar on carabao production and management, wherein they learned about the basic how-to’s in housing, health, and breeding management. At the end of the seminar, the animals were brought home (on foot) by the beneficiaries as Brgy. Nalasin is only about 5 kilometers from the center.
Most of the animals were pregnant, and on July 28, 1998, the first calf was born. However, it died after a month due to pneumonia. But the loss of the calf did not dampen the spirit of the recipient, Mr. Romeo Acang, then the chairman of the coop. He patiently milked the cow for 230 days and obtained an average of 3.46 L per day or a total of 797 L. He delivered and sold almost daily to the MMSU Dairy Processing Center for the NDA-assisted milk feeding program.
To prepare the other recipients in milk collection and processing, the Center conducted a training on buffalo milk handling and processing in October 1998. Shortly thereafter, the animals gave birth. For the year 1999, there were 18 lactating cows with daily milk yield ranging from 0.26 L to 2.2 L. The problem was that the members competed against each other in selling their milk within the neighborhood as the Co-op did not have a ready market plan. Thus, the center offered to buy the milk at P15 a liter.
Eighteen months after birth, the yearling buffalos of either sex were turned over to the Center as first offspring payment for the imported pregnant BMB cows. However, there were seven members who voluntarily returned their cows because they were more overwhelmed by the responsibilities stipulated in the contract than the benefits they can derive from the animals.
At the end of 2003, 8 of the 15 cows in the hands of recipients were already lactating. One recipient re-loaned the first calf that he paid for his original stock. Through all of these, PCC at MMSU derived important lessons from the birth pains of putting up a village dairy project and tried strategies to make it sustainable.
An arrangement was made with the MMSU Dairy Processing Center, which processes and supplies fresh milk for the NDA-LGU sponsored milk feeding program. A milk collector was also assigned among the members to collect the milk in the morning and afternoon.
The afternoon milk was refrigerated and delivered together with the morning collection to MMSU, Batac. The farm gate price of the milk was P35 and the selling price was P37 a liter. The collector thus got P2 a liter as delivery fee to defray storage and transport expenses.
Total production in 2003 from seven cows was: 3,181.25 L valued at P117,706.25. By this time, the Co-op members already believed that indeed there is money in dairying. The beneficiaries claimed they derived many benefits both financially and nutritionally from their dairy buffalo.
By year 2005, most of the recipients had already completed the two-offspring payment. However, the Co-op was having problems on its finances and outstanding loans. Not long after, the Co-op became inactive and the very small dairy group (14 members) was disbanded. PCC at MMSU did its best to revive the dairy association within the coop but the members were no longer interested in milking their animals; instead, they already wanted to dispose them.
In 2002, the municipality of Marcos was identified as an Impact Zone, being able to satisfy the set criteria like presence of at least 150 breedable females, proximity to the PCC center, and LGU support. As an impact zone, all the service programs (AI, bull loan and carabao-based enterprise development) of PCC are visible in the area.
Barangay Santiago, which is approximately 30 km from the PCC at MMSU, has been a recipient of AI activities since 1996. As of 2002, the barangay had 60 crossbreds. Like other groups whose interest on the module was sparked when they read several news bits and articles in the newspapers and Agriculture Magazine, the Timpuyog ti Santiago Farmers’ Association (TSFA) filed its request through the Municipal Agriculture Office.
PCC discussed the requirements and qualifications and the TSFA then screened and selected the member-recipients. Due to limited availability of animals, the PCC initially awarded 10 heifer;, and one bull in September 2002, five in October 2003, three in September 2005, and an additional two in November 2007.
To technically equip and empower the recipients, trainings on carabao production and management and on buffalo milk handling and processing were conducted in December 2002 and September 2003, respectively. The first training was attended mostly by the recipients while the wives participated in the second. Expenses in both trainings were co-shared by the PCC (meals), LGU Marcos (snacks, training kits) and the TFSA (venue and physical logistics).
A five-day training on institutional building was also facilitated by the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) in December 2005. The training was sponsored by the PCC, ATI, Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte, Technical Skills and Development Administration, Department of Science and Technology, and the Municipal Government of Marcos.
Learning from the NMPCI experience, PCC through its hardworking and conscientious community organizer, William Gudoy, exerted efforts to motivate the farmers to milk their cows. Two cows calved ahead of their batch, i.e., before September 2003, so the PCC staff conducted tutorial training for the farmers’ wives to be able to make something out of the milk produced. Thus, when six more heifers calved in 2004, the TFSA had already devised its own collecting, processing, and marketing system.
The TSFA bought the milk from the recipients at P28 a liter. A milk processor (from among the members) was paid to pasteurize the milk for a fee of P2 per liter. The pasteurized milk was sold at B37 per liter. The P7 per liter gain went to the TSFA (P5) and the seller (P2). The total milk production was 3,296.5 L from eight cows in 2004, 3230.6 L from four cows in 2005 and 2271.60 L from four cows in 2006.
The members of the TFSA are receptive to technologies being introduced to them. They are conscientious and fast learners. To them, dairy farming is a whole family affair. The father and son attend to the feeding and milking chores, while the wife and daughter process and/or deliver the milk to the collecting/processing center.
With market for the milk in place, the farmer-partners milk their cows twice a day. The morning collection is brought to the milk processor, while the afternoon collection is consumed at home, or fed to the calves in the case of newly-calved cows. Some recipients serve fresh milk or chocolate-flavored fresh milk instead of soda drinks to guests and to farm helpers during peak crop activities such as planting and harvesting. Some process the milk into candies for their children.
Along with the initial batch of 10 heifers was a purebred BMB to be used for natural breeding not only for native cows and heifers but also for the BMB heifers as well. The presence of the bull minimized problem in rebreeding the cow a few months after giving birth.
Under the PCC Impact Zone concept of putting all programs in the area, Alex Pasion, a member of TSFA and a regular clientele of the Al program himself, trained on basic Al and pregnancy diagnosis at the PCC at CLSU Digdig
Ranch, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija in June 2005. Shortly after the training, he took over the task of Gudoy, in providing Al. services to TFSA members for free and to other farmers in the municipality and nearby towns for a fee.
Most of the recipients have already completed their obligations (one 18-month old offspring payment) to the PCC, but they continue to breed and milk their animals. Of the initial batch of 10, 3 died (due to uterine prolapse and other disorders) and one, had to be disposed/ sold due to very small teats. Five have had their second lactation and are now being impregnated, while one is in its third lactation cycle.
The TFSA is a very cohesive association with a strong leadership, taking the helm of running the affairs of the module with minimal dependence on PCC. It holds a regular quarterly meeting, with PCC and MAO representatives as guests or consultants on matters that they can not readily resolve on their own. Wilson C. Simeon, the chairman, never fails to attend and preside over the meetings despite his hectic schedule as Sangguniang Bayan member.
Unlike the recipients of the earlier module, the TFSA members have fully appreciated and internalized the value of dairying, as well as its contribution to the alleviation of their nutritional status and income. Other members are still eagerly waiting for their turn to receive heifers. Unfortunately, all the offspring payments for the first 15 heifers dispersed are males.
Even with the implementation of the new modified paiwi scheme contract, wherein the PCC remains the owner of the dam, the members are willing to avail of the animals, an indication that they are after the income from milk and not just ownership of the dispersed animal. A number of Al recipients have also started milking their crossbred females. As of October 2007, the barangay had 65 female crossbreds (39 of breeding age, i.e., 3 years old and above) and 15 purebred BMBs.
The female carabao breeding base in the whole municipality is likewise shifting toward the crossbreds, 299 against 261 native females (October 2007 carabao census). With an unwavering interest among the farmers and relentless support from the LGU and other stakeholders, the vision of making the town of Marcos as the milk fountain in Ilocos Norte is gradually becoming a reality.
