DOST pushes goat milk production

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will tap S&T to identify the best goat breed in the country and raise the country’s goat milk production and reduce dependence on imported milk.

Patricio Faylon, executive director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARD), said that the National Dairy Goat S&T Program will involve the Central Luzon State University (CLSU), Isabela State University (ISU), the Bohol Island State University, UP Mindanao and the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office 8.

Faylon signed last Monday a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the three-year program with Aleth Mamauag, president of ISU; Ruben Sevilleja, president of CLSU; Sylvia Concepcion, chancellor of UP Mindanao and Elpidio Magante, president of BISU at ceremonies in Quezon City.

The program has a budget of P2 million. However, Faylon revealed that the government has a total fund of P36 million for all goat breeding and goat milk production projects.

Faylon said that the move to boost goat milk production in the country was seen to help farmers improve their income, and also address nutrition concerns among Filipino children and senior citizens who will benefit from increased milk consumption.

National Dairy Authority data showed that the Philippines imported 1,955,410 metric tons of milk in 2012.

That year, local production was a mere 18,400 metric tons of milk, and of this already small amount, only a quarter was produced by goats.

Emilio Cruz, director of CLSU’s Small Ruminant Center who was tasked to lead the program, said that the first phase of the program was the conduct of a performance evaluation of dairy goats in the country.

Under the effort, CLSU animal scientists will do goat breed genotyping of all goat breeds currently in the country and then identify which breed has the highest milk production.

Under phase 2, Cruz said the program will go into actual herd build-up all over the countryside with the promotion of the identified best performing breed to goat farmers.

DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said that the effort to boost goat milk production was a “smart” and “healthy” move, both for the Filipino milk consumers and small farmers.

“Goat dairying is more financially rewarding for small farmers than cattle and carabao dairying, as income is relatively higher,” Montejo said.

“It offers a wide variety of health benefits and is known as a healthier alternative to cow’s milk. For one, it has smaller, well-emulsified fat globules, without agglutinin protein hence easier to digest, suited therefore to senior citizens and babies alike,” Montejo said.

“All these advantages make goat production and goat dairying nowadays popular, propelling farmers to venture into such business and giving impetus for us at DOST to pour in investments to address the gaps in goat R&D (research and development),” Montejo said.

A nationwide goat inventory conducted last year showed the Philippines has a goat population of some 3.7 million. Of this number, only 6,379 are classified as dairy goats producing milk. However, only 600 heads of the 6,379 are said to be on the “milk line” or are producing milk regularly.