DA moves to integrate coconut, dairy farming

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture is moving toward integrating coconut and dairy farming.

The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) and Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) recently inked a memorandum of agreement for the Coconut-Carabao Development Project (CCDP), which aims to augment the income of coconut farmers.

Under the two-year project, the PCC will implement initiatives with the assistance of PCA including entrustment of animals, establishment of processing facilities through provision of equipment and supplies, establishment of market outlets, capacitation of value chain players, coordination with stakeholders, and monitoring and evaluation.

The program will run for two years, covering 17 project sites nationwide.

Initially, the identified farmers shall allocate sufficient land for the construction of animal housing and establishment of forage area.

The cooperative conduits are expected to utilize resources that can help usher development along the carabao enterprise value chain.

Both agencies will be working with select municipal or provincial local government units for the provision of technical support services, monitoring, and allotment of space for marketing facilities.

The milk produced out of the CCDP is seen to contribute to the supply of milk required to implement the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Program which rallies the national feeding program for undernourished Filipino children.