PH taps IP farms to boost dairy output

MANILA, Philippines  —The National Dairy Authority (NDA) has partnered with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to build stock farms as it aims to increase domestic milk sufficiency by 5 percent in four years.

The NCIP approved the signing of a memorandum of agreement with the NDA, a corporation under the Department of Agriculture, for the development of stock farms within the ancestral domains, the NDA said in a statement on Thursday.

The stock farms, designed for producing and breeding dairy cattle, will feature a processing facility.

For this project, the NDA said the facilities would adhere to NCIP standards and respect sacred ancestral land, environmental norms and traditional protocols as well as align with the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan of indigenous cultural communities.

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The NDA estimated that each stock farm with 50 heads of dairy cattle would occupy 10 hectares (ha) of land, including land for pasture development, while those with 100 heads would need 20 to 30 ha assuming that 80 percent of the area is utilized.

Rigorous validation processes will be put in place to uphold the best interest of the indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples, who will be hired as part of the workforce. They will be organized into cooperatives to qualify as recipients of dairy animals.

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Beneficiaries will undergo training on various techniques such as dairy production, animal health and management, artificial insemination, milk processing, financial literacy, business development and food safety.

“NDA will train them in dairy farm management. They will supply animal feeds like corn silage and forage,” NDA administrator Gabriel Lagamayo said.