Baguio City to become the milk capital in Cordillera

Baguio City, Philippines - Baguio is looking forward to becoming the ‘milk capital’ in the region as it seeks to help address the country’s dependency on imported milk by providing the milk supply to provinces in the Cordillera.

In a press release, the Department of Agriculture regional office disclosed that the through National Dairy Authority (NDA), a possible partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now being considered to improve and upgrade the Baguio Dairy Farm Project.

Just this month, USDA Agricultural Counselor Morgan Haas, along with the personnel from NDA, visited the facility ‘to have a better appreciation of the Dairy Development Project’ under DA-CAR.

Counselor Morgan Haas, in said event, discussed possible improvements that the dairy industry needs to undertake to contribute to the campaign on advancing food security in the country.

“We are looking on possible technologies that science can offer to hasten and improve productivity and deal with other challenges in dairy production,” Haas said.

DA-CAR has identified concerns such as low productivity, high production cost, and weak market linkage as the foremost challenges of the Dairy Development Project.

Meantime, Dr. Cameron Odsey reiterated the primary goal of the Dairy Farm Project is to make milk available to the highland communities.

“We also want more farmers to engage in dairy production that’s why we continue to develop and share technologies to produce high-value animals with proper feeds,” he said.

NDA Administrator Marilyn Mabale and DA-CAR Regional Executive Director Dr. Cameron Odsey initiated and led the said meeting.

Currently, the DA-CAR Managed Baguio Dairy Farm at the Baguio Animal Breeding and Research Center (BABRC) houses 48 heads of breeder stock and 55 heads of purebred calves.

From January to July 2021, the farm was able to supply an average of 9,338.86 liters of milk per month to Mt. High Dairy Cooperative. The cooperative spearheaded the production and marketing of fresh milk from the Dairy Farm.

The Dairy Development Project already distributed cattle to qualified farmer-beneficiaries and also provided basic dairy training management as part of its extended services.

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