Carabao is not only a functional critter in the field but also a valuable source of food such as meat and milk. With the growing demand for locally sourced quality milk and milk products in the country, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) collaborated with the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) in a project that aims to enhance the growth and milk production of dairy buffaloes in Nueva Ecija and in San Agustin, Isabela.
Sustainable homegrown forages and complete nutrient diet
The quality of milk produced is influenced by the quality of forages fed to the animals. However, seasonal patterns affect the supply of forages—insufficient during the dry season, abundant during the rainy season.
Through the project implemented by PCC, a total of 300 farmer adopters were engaged in the production and utilization of homegrown forages in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. This is excluding the dairy farmers directly involved in the project wherein 63 farmers at the National Impact Zone (NIZ) in Nueva Ecija and 30 farmers in San Agustin, Isabela established homegrown forages in 115-hectare forage area planted with 600,000 napier grass cuttings and 257,000 legume seedlings.
These homegrown forages – grasses and legumes, established in the sites could sustain the year-round nutritious fodder requirement of the dairy buffaloes. Aside from being sustainable, homegrown forages were beneficial for farmers in developing practical and low-cost rations.
Furthermore, the project tested the use of complete nutrient diets (CND) incorporating the homegrown forages for growing and lactating buffaloes.
According to PCC, feeding growing buffaloes with CND resulted in an average daily gain higher than the control diet, while milk production of lactating buffaloes also increased in both sites.
This developed feeding practice was proven beneficial as they were easy to adopt, provided complete nutrients, and entailed lower cost.
Encouraging more adopters
PCC recommends to dairy farmers the production and utilization of homegrown forages and incorporate them to CND for buffaloes.
Through continuous collaborations, they were able to encourage more than 300 farmer-adopters who own over a thousand animals to produce and use homegrown forages.
PCC was also able to recruit primary dairy buffalo cooperatives and their federations, i.e., the Nueva Ecija Federation of Dairy Carabao Cooperatives at the NIZ in Nueva Ecija and the San Agustin Dairy Cooperatives (SADACO) in San Agustin, Isabela to adopt the said technology.
The project was presented during the National Symposium on Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (NSAARRD) and garnered second place in the Best R&D Paper (Development Category). The award was conferred during the DOST-PCAARRD’s 2021 S&T Awards and Recognition ceremony held on November 29, 2021.
NSAARRD, spearheaded by DOST-PCAARRD, recognizes outstanding contributions in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sector in the country (Eileen Fay M. Villegas, DOST-PCAARRD S&T Media Services).