DNA marker technology to improve dairy breeding program

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) is adopting the DNA marker technology which promises to improve its breeding program and  lower breeding cost.

PCC supervising science research specialist Jesus Rommel V. Herrera said the use of the technology would have a long term contribution to raising the country’s milk production.

To identify a bull with high genetic merit:

• based on the performance of his daughters (progeny testing)

• bull is already eight years

“We will improve our selection scheme for dairy buffaloes by integrating DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) markers. This is our future direction,” said Herrera.

The  breeding program is expected to reduce the time by which a milk-producing bull may be identified as superior.

Bulls could be identified as superior milk producer at two to three years of age instead of waiting until they are  six to eight years old.

The cost of breeding can also be reduced by at least 50 percent. The cost of test for progeny (to determine offspring’s milking ability) alone is placed at P664,257 per bull by the Agricultural Research Council-Animal Production Institute.

The PCC recently completed the upgrading of its bull-breeding center in Nueva Ecija which was funded by a $3 million grant from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

In 2010, the PCC announced its partnership with KOICA to fund the three-year project to increase the breeding capacity and capability of its national bull farm and semen laboratory in Carrangalan, Nueva Ecija.

PCC’s improved bull-breeding facilitiy now hosts a state-of-the art semen processing center and cryobanking facility that will be used for artificial insemination services.

The improved cryobank, which contains six cryotanks and a liquid hydrogen depot, can conserve the genetic material of selected livestock for a longer period.

Along with the improvements made in the national bull farm, PCC personnel are also given advanced training in livestock breeding technology.

With the establishment of state-of-the-art facilities for semen processing and cryobanking, the PCC will be able to double its semen production for wider provision of artificial insemination services nationwide.

The services that can be provided by the bull breeding facility would not only  be limited to the breeding of Philippine buffaloes, but would be extended to other players in the livestock industry.

The livestock sector, which has consistently recorded positive growth, is being groomed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) – along with the poultry sector – to be export-competitive ahead of the economic integration with the ASEAN region.

The DA is also expanding the local dairy industry through a herd build up and breeding program to sustain the growth in the industry.

The National Dairy Authority (NDA) earlier said that the local dairy industry needs more investments in milk production to enable processors to produce more dairy products for domestic consumption and make the prices of local dairy products competitive to imported goods.

In the dairy industry’s value chain, the production segment which comprises the breeding of dairy animals and milk harvesting, is a priority investment area because this will spur growth in the processing and marketing segments of the chain.

Raw milk production in 2012 rose by 12 percent to 18.45 million liters from 16.45 million liters in 2011. Milk production has been growing at an average of seven percent annually in the last five years.

The growth in 2012 milk production exceeded the initial target of 10 percent. The NDA intends to keep the growth rate at 12 percent and above in the coming years.

Despite these gains, the local raw milk production can only provide for roughly one percent of the country’s total dairy product requirement of 1.8 billion kilograms. The balance of the demand is covered by imports coming from New Zealand, USA, Australia and France.