The Dairy Confederation of the Philippines (DCP) called on presidential bets to include on their economic agenda an assistance package for local producers so they can take advantage of the huge demand of manufacturers for milk.
DCP said the milk industry in the Philippines is practically
nonexistent, as local producers can supply only 1 percent of the total requirement of the commercial-milk sector.
“The [government] should improve the production of the industry. Right now there is no industry to speak of if only 1 percent of the total supply is produced here. But if you give each farmer a milking cow, that’s a clear effort to help the farmers,” DCP Chairman Danilo V. Fausto told the BusinessMirror.
Fausto said there is a demand for local milk, particularly since Republic Act 7884, or the National Dairy Development Act of 1995, compelled manufacturers to buy a portion of their requirements from Philippine dairy producers.
He said farmers should also be provided extension services and the latest technology to help them boost their output.
The DCP noted that the local dairy industry has a “huge” potential for growth. For one, Fausto said there is a growing demand for locally produced milk, particularly carabao milk and its by-products.
“There is increasing awareness for local fresh milk in the market, especially in Metro Manila. Local producers are given more opportunity to market their
products,” he said.
Fausto added that local producers are more competitive than multinational companies as they can produce “truly fresh milk.”
He said there is also a potential to ship out carabao milk to the Asean community as neighboring Southeast Asian countries do not produce this.
“It’s a long haul. It’s a long way to go, but it’s always good to start somewhere,” Fausto said, adding that other milk-producing countries, such as New Zealand, took centuries to develop their industry.
The National Dairy Administration (NDA) said the country’s dairy output this year could increase as more players in the private sector have expressed interest in investing in dairy farms.
“More private players are willing to invest. It’s a matter of finding out the best technology for their respective environment,” NDA Administrator Grace J. Cenas said.
Cenas said the NDA will be crafting a new industry road map for 2016 to 2022, which would outline the strategies that the government will undertake with the private sector to boost the productivity of local dairy industry. She said the agency has been “successful” in hitting some of the targets set under the 2010 to 2016 dairy road map.
“We were not able to hit our targets for animal infusion through importation. But we were able to hit other targets, such as involving 100,000 families, creating a credit facility and implementing a public-private partnership through the dairy
multiplier farms,” Cenas said.