DA seeks P1-B funding for Dairy Roadmap

BANGKOK, Thailand-The National Dairy Authority hopes to obtain a funding of at least P1 billion next year for its Dairy Roadmap.

NDA Administrator Grace J. Cenas said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala had expressed his support for a P1-billion budget for the Dairy Roadmap for 2012.

The Dairy Roadmap prepared by the NDA needs an annual budget of P2.4 billion.

According to Cenas, the NDA is likewise hoping to get back a P300-million allocation for a milk feeding program that was reallocated to the rice program during the rice crisis of 2008.

Cenas said the amount was actually allocated to the Department of Education but was reallocated to the rice program during the rice crisis of 2008.

The remaining P1 billion for the Dairy Roadmap, Cenas said, would come in the form of credit support.

The Philippines is hoping to finally establish its own dairy self-sufficiency program with possible technical support and cooperation from the Thai government.

Under roadmap, the NDA hopes to be able to increase its animal infusion as well as upgrade existing stocks and improve genetic development especially for milking cows.

The roadmap would also try to develop the market as well as provide a milk feeding program and a dairy enterprise support development program.

The Philippine milk feeding program is a copy of Thailand’s milk feeding program which gets an annual funding of 12 billion baht, but which was increased just this year to 14 billion baht.

The planned Philippine milk feeding program, according to Cenas, would involve initially 2.5 million children at a cost of P1,200 per child for six months only.

The milk feeding program would stimulate local dairy development.

According to Danilo Fausto, chairman of the Dairy Confederation of the Philippines, the local dairy industry is supporting such a milk feeding program.

Fausto is part of the private sector delegation invited by the Thai government.

According to Fausto, “we are requesting intervention from the President to instruct local government units to provide one percent of their budget for a milk feeding program to address the issue on malnutrition and provide a ready market for milk produced by local dairy farmers.”