MUÑOZ CITY, Nueva Ecija: The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) under the Department of Agriculture will undertake six projects toward strengthening the entire value chain of the carabao meat and dairy industry in the Philippines.
Dr. Arnel del Barrio, PCC Executive Director, said they came up with at least six specific projects for the domestic carabao industry in collaboration with 15 executives, scientists and specialists of the PCC and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
“The projects include increasing productivity and reproductive efficiency of carabao for meat and milk; improving quality of raw carabao milk; improving milk handling, assembly, and distribution of live animals; encouraging an enabling environment for community-based enterprises on carabao meat and milk; carabao milk processing; and marketing of carabao products, “ Del Barrio said.
He said the projects were the output of an integration workshop held in early October in Makati City by SEARCA, a regional non-profit research and training center commissioned by the PCC as implementer of a few research and development and technical assistance projects.
The integration workshop drew insights from presentations on four PCC-funded initiatives, including a value-chain analysis study; technical assistance on knowledge management; a carabao slaughter ban study led; and a study on ruminant and dairy industry situation in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, SEARCA is also currently eyeing a program to improve the capacity of the PCC in Nueva Ecija that will make the local livestock sector compete in a liberalized trade environment, particularly the Asean Economic Community 2015 (AEC 2015).
“The general objective of the program is to capacitate the PCC for it to address the requirements of the livestock sector and enhance its full potential as a major player in the region [and the world] considering AEC 2015 and greater globalization,” SEARCA said in a statement.
Specifically, SEARCA said the program aims to customize and implement an Overseas Comparative Study Mission that will focus on technology sharing, policy support and reforms, and breed development aligned with efforts on livestock research and biotechnology.
The research and training center said the program also aims to implement an international expert exchange program on areas related to DNA-based biotechniques on genetic evaluation, disease detection and biosafety, breed development, social and policy, and human resource development.
In 2008, the PCC was given an additional task as the National Lead Agency for Livestock Biotechnology Research and Development.