TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, August 3 (PIA) – The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and the National Dairy Authority (NDA) has approved a P20-increase in the farm-gate buying price for a liter of milk.

From the current P50 buying price for a liter of raw and unprocessed milk, the government’s institutions supporting the industry are reportedly willing to bring up the buying price to P70 a liter.

Bohol Dairy Cooperative (BODACO) Board of Director Fernando Dupalco, in a recent interview, said they are convening with the BODACO board anytime to formally set the mechanics for the increase, which would significantly help farmers earn more and improve their lives.

In Bohol, after the PCC released the research on the viability of milking cow and carabao especially those of better breeds than the native, it could alleviate the lives of dairy farmers.

Starting with a cow or carabao giving out a calf, these animals produce milk for the young, but these are in excess with more than what the calf needs every day.

For a native carabao, after the calf has had its fill, farmers can still gather a liter of milk a day, which is equivalent to an additional income of P50 .

According to the PCC study, farmers whose milked livestock are of better breeds like the crossbreeds and the hybrids could collect 10 more liters of milk per head, all of which are excess milk of the calf.

“You still wake up early for the pasture, bring it back to the milking shed by seven, leave it under some shade, bring it out at early afternoon to graze and milk it by four. Then it’s on to the shed until morning,” Dupalco said.

That, he said, is also almost the same routine for every livestock owner.

Dupalco, who has six female carabaos and a bull, is now looking at more milk in the coming months as four of his crossbreeds and hybrid animals are pregnant.

For those who are not eager to get the animal out for pasture, a kilogram of concentrated commercial feed has been tested to add a liter of milk, he shared.

“You buy concentrated feeds at P35 and you get P70 on that, that is still a fair deal,” he said.

A dairy farmer in Bohol in Bohol gas earned over a thousand pesos a day from the milk sales, according to the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian.

In Bohol, the Provincial Milk Feeding Program has significantly increased the demand for locally produced milk, opening up a door of opportunity for farmers in the dairy sector.

Then implemented in nine towns in Bohol near Ubay where the milk processing facilities are located, the dairy industry here has spread to 13 more towns.

Dairy production is now implemented in Tubigon, Sagbayan, Carmen Danao, Clarin, San Isidro, Catigbian, Antequera, Balilihan, Corella, Sevilla, Sikatuna, and Batuan. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)