Agriculture Business Week

With good early bookings, all the signs are that there will be another well attended Pig, Poultry & Dairy Focus Asia 2010. This event is now perceived as Asia ’s leading independent technical conference for anyone involved in modern pig, poultry and dairy production and attracts production managers, QA managers, nutritionists and veterinarians. The event will be held on 1 – 3rd March 2010 at the prestigious Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

The event has 90 international experts as its speakers and topical issues such as the use of enzymes and probiotics to improve feed utilisation and animal performance, the effect of health on meat or milk quality, controlling the impact of mycotoxins, optimising reproductive performance and the value of organic minerals are among the topics on the programme.

In addition, the pig programme will consider topics such as intestinal integrity, semen analysis, weaning capacity and boar taint control and the poultry programme will also consider in ovo vaccination, evaluation of feed trials, single stage incubation and salmonella control. The Dairy programme will also focus on calf pneumonia, heat stress, reproductive health management and coccidiosis.

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An hour before day break, more than a hundred milkmen are already busy milking hundreds of native carabaos in the lakeshore town of Lumban, famous for its intricately woven barong tagalog. Because of its wide green fields near the “dagat” as locals call Laguna de Bay, Lumban is the grazing area for carabaos owned by the makers of kesong puti in the adjoining town of Sta. Cruz, the bustling capital of Laguna.

By eight o’clock in the morning, the collected milk in sealed bumbong, a 15liter capacity stainless steel container, attached on both sides of a motorcycle, are rushed to Bagumbayan, one of the 26 barangays of Sta. Cruz where a hundred households are engaged in this much sought-after indigenous delicacy.

One of the biggest kesong puti makers is 55-year-old Gil del Mundo, whose two maggagatas (milkmen) deliver a total of 40 liters every morning to his home cum cottage,cheese factory beside the highway leading to the poblacion. Milk is strained in cheesecloth, afterwhich it is poured into a stainless steel casserole and heated for 15 seconds. After it has been cooled in a basin of cold water, a cup of rennet and a half-cup of salt are mixed in 15 liters of milk. The white concoction is strained again to remove whey (water) for 15 minutes.

“It is then put in a big plastic pail where it is mixed thoroughly by hand until it curdled,” explains Del Mundo, who, together with wife Virgie, owns 50 head of carabao (15 of whom are males). “The curds are then poured in rows of halabing (round moulds made of banana leaves) and then let stand for about ten minutes,” adds the fourth-generation kesong puti maker in Bagumbayan, a big barangay with more than 12,000 inhabitants located two kilometers west of the Sta. Cruz town center. “Two halabing are wrapped in a piece of banana leaf, tied with straw and encased in a talulo, a squared piece of dried sheath of beetle nut tree (bunga) that holds a basta (small bundle) together.”

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Manila, Philippines – Long enslaved to the plow, the sturdy carabao has been freed from its yoke by advances in technology.

The two-wheeled hand tractor, known among farmers as “kuliglig,” has taken over its job.

Thanks to farm mechanization and the dollar remittances that gave farming families the means to buy the hand tractor, the carabao has lost its traditional job.

Like the carriage-pulling horse in the West made irrelevant by the automobile, the carabao has been replaced by the more efficient machine that can plow one hectare in one day, a job that used to take five carabaos and five farmers to accomplish.

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Sacramento, California – Treat her nice, give her lovely name like Michelle or Hillary, and your cow will reward you with more fresh milk.

A study done at the Newcastle University of England indicated, however, that while there’s no scientific evidence to such claim, it says christening your cow and more affectionate caring could result in increased milk production. In the same way that when cattle for meat production are given regular body massaging, among other soothing techniques, it would result in more tender and better quality meat, according to earlier accounts from animal husbandry experts.

“A cow that is happy and calm is going to produce more milk. So, if you have cows named after people and those that are working with them understand the cows, they are going. to get more milk out of them,” the recently released study pointed out.

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The biggest problem that Lanao del Norte is facing today is the perception of outsiders that the province is war-torn so that businessmen from outside the province are hesitant to invest in commercial projects there.

Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, the 29-year-old governor of the province, will tell you, however, that Lanao del Norte is very peaceful. He stresses that there are no MILF rebels in the province. In fact the provincial veterinarian, Dr. Usodan Samporna, quips that Lanao del Norte is the “Land of MILK, not MILF.”

What the provincial vet said is really true. Did you know that the biggest dairy cow operation is found in Lanao del Norte? This is the dairy farm put up by the Lanao Foundation, Inc., a private foundation, headed by Congressman Abdullah Dimaporo. Although he is a government official, he thought it wise that the huge project be operated as a private business. He probably knows very well that the government is a poor business operator.

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The Philippine Carabao Center(PCC) celebrated its 14th anniversary last March 30 and honored its most outstanding center and employee as well as the country’s best dairy farmer, dairy coop, and dairy carabao of the year.

PCC at UP Los Banos and Rosalina M. Lapitan were singled out as the most outstanding center and employee, respectively. Other awardees are Anastacio Millar of Tulong, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, best dairy farmer; Aglipay Dairy Producers Cooperative in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, best dairy co-op; and a carabao of Venus Eduarte of San Jose City, best dairy cow. The all-women Angat Buhay Producers Multi-Purpose Cooperative was conferred the Hall of Fame after being the best dairy co-op in the last three years.

Led by its director, Dr. Arnel del Barrio, PCC at UPLB maintains impact zones in Laguna and Cavite, covering 11 municipalities and cities. In collaboration with the Camarines Sur State Agricultural College, Department of Agriculture regional field unit, office of the provincial veterinarian, and local government units, PCC implements the carabao upgrading program through estrus synchronization and artificial insemination in 43 municipalities and cities in Region 4, and 7 municipalities in Region 5.

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Aside from the production of purebred Saanens using purebred bucks of award winning dairy goat lines from Australia, the Almedas have embarked on a program that will incorporate Anglo Nubian blood in the offspring of Saanen. They have imported a purebred Anglo Nubian buck (AGF Darwyn) which has been used to upgrade their so-called Mitra Line of Anglo Nubian as well as their other stocks.

The Mitra Line Anglo Nubian, by the way, is an exceptional line that came from the herd of Dado Mitra, son of the late Sen. Ramon Mitra Jr. They originally consisted of five does that proved to be very prolific. In fact, one Mitra doe gave birth to five female kids on December 25, 2006, all of which are now in their breeding pens. Four have already successfully kidded, adding more stock to their Mitra Line.

The Mitra Line animals are not only prolific, they are also good looking Anglo Nubians which have height, length and mothering ability that one would look for in a good breeding stock. Today, the Mitra Line is one of the best performers in the Almeda farm.

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Milk production with goats is increasingly becoming attractive as a few private raisers are discovering its possibilities with the use of improved technology. One fellow who is extremely excited about goat dairying is Rene Almeda. He and his two sons, Art and Toti, are operating the Alaminos Goat Farm in Laguna which is credited with what could be considered significant firsts in the industry.

The farm’s Milk Star fresh goat’s milk, for instance, is the first fresh goat’s milk to be commercially distributed in SM and Robinsons supermarkets in Metro Manila. A few weeks back, the farm was producing about 120 liters of milk a day but by the time this May issue of Agriculture Magazine comes out, the milk production could reach 200 liters a day as more animals join the milkline.

The Almedas operate one of the finest goat farms in the country today with a herd of some 600 Boers and Anglo Nubians, and about 300 Saanens. The Saanens are the ones currently producing the milk sold in the market. But the progenies of a superioY line of Anglo Nubian crossed with Saanen are what excite the Almedas the more. They call this the Alaminos Mitra Saanen cross or simply AMS cross.

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MONEY FROM MILK
In Brgy. Tubog, Saturnino “Satur” Dilao, 60, also made money from the milk of the pregnant Bulgarian Murrah buffalo, which he loaned in 1998. He said that his income from buffalo milk also helped him a lot in the college education of his children.

He recalled that it was very tiresome for him in the first year, as he and the other recipients had to bring cut grasses and other forage feeds for the buffalo to a common feedlot twice a day. All the buffalos then were in a common feedlot where they were being tamed. The feedlot was about a kilometer away from most of the houses in Tubog.

Satur’s first calf was born two months after the arrival of the dam. He gave the calf, a female, to the PCC after 18 months as his first payment. In a year, he collected 893 liters of milk worth P 15,383.

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Farmers in Ubay, Bohol consider themselves lucky as the pregnant dairy buffalos loaned out to them in 1998 by the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) at Ubay Stock Farm (USF) have already given lots of benefits, which could not have been possible from other endeavors.

What’s more, the female buffalos have already multiplied, giving the farmers more milk to collect and more hope to have a better life. After tasting the benefits from the dairy buffalo, the farmers would keep their female calves for more benefits.

True enough, the buffalos delivered their first calves a few months after the members of the Ubay Dairy MultiPurpose Cooperative (UDAMCO) got them. And sooner than the members thought, they were already collecting milk that gave them additional income.

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Every time we talk about dairy products, the first thing that comes to the mind of most people is that these products were made from cattle milk. That is partly correct because – except white cheese and mozzarella – buffalo or carabao milk in the Philippines is not known to be processed into other dairy products.

The good news is that researchers of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) led by Mrs. Mina Abella have developed ways of processing buffalo milk yogurt, butter from buffalo milk, and ricotta cheese.

Yogurt is fermented milk with live good microorganisms that are beneficial to men. It has a smooth velvety texture with a mild tart taste. It can be plain and unsweetened or sweetened with natural fruits or synthetic flavors. The technology of making yogurt uses pasteurized buffalo milk inoculated with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. After inoculation, it is incubated at 40 to 45°C until its acidity reaches 0.7 to 0.9 percent lactic acid.

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The Philippine Carabao Center(PCC) has chosen the Aglipay Dairy Producers Cooperative (ADPC) in Brgy. Aglipay, Rizal, Nueva EcUa as the country’s best dairy cooperative this year

APDC has started as the Aglipay Primary Multi-Purpose Cooperative in 1999 and succeeded the Angat Buhay Producers Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Calabalabaan, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, which was conferred the Hall of Fame after being the best dairy co-op in the last three years.

According to Reynaldo Calixtro, co-op manager, the ADPC was expected to avail two dairy modules from the PCC in 1999 and 2000, but there were so many takers and, hence, only one module and 16 head were given to them. Each dairy module consisted of 24 Murrah buffalo heifers, which were at least 18 months old, and a bull. Only 16 head were availed of in the second module, which were given in August 2000.

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When people think of milk, they usually associate it with goats, cows, or carabaos. Seldom will anyone think of plants as a source of alternative milk like soya milk.

Soya milk is cheaper than dairy or animal milk. It is also low in fat or lactose, whereas cow’s milk can have as much as 4%-5% saturated fat. What’s fantastic about soya milk is that it is high in protein and free from cholesterol.

According to the book Tofu & Soya, soya milk has the same protein content as goat’s milk and the same level of calcium as cow’s milk. A 100 ml of soya milk contains 0.63 mg riboflavin, 3.2 mcg vitamin B, and 1.5 mcg vitamin D, and has a total energy of 430 kilocalories.

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Towards the end of the last century, the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) launched its Carabao Development Program to improve the productivity and income of dairy farmers. The program’s ultimate focus is the establishment of village-based buffalo dairy enterprises.

Since the PCC established its national headquarters in Nueva Ecija, the PCC and the Nueva Ecija provincial government through then Gov. Tomas N. Joson III agreed in 1998 to develop the province as the national impact zone (NIZ) for dairy buffalo development.

The NIZ project aims to showcase and demonstrate cooperative-led dairy enterprises in the production and marketing of good quality buffalo dairy products from quality breeder animals managed by dairy farmers in a traditionally non-dairying community. It involves the provision of 25 dairy buffalo modules (consisting of 25 head of female and 1 male Murrah buffalos) as loans to partner cooperatives.

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