Ifugao farmers next target for dairy farming
Rice Terraces Farmers Cooperative (RTFC) members were oriented on dairy cattle farming last March 21, 2017 at the Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel, Banaue, Ifugao.
Heirloom rice farmers from the Ifugao municipalities: Hungduan, Hingyon, and Banaue; and Barlig, Mt. Province consisted of RTFC. Representatives from the National Dairy Authority (NDA), Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), and Local Government Units (LGUs) were also present.
Ifugao is the second province, after Mt. Province, that was presented with the dairy cattle project in the Cordillera. Participants were briefed by Jerry Damoyan, Agricultural Provincial Coordinator of Ifugao, on the background of the project and its goals. Still in line with Department of Agriculture (DA) Sec. Emmanuel Piñol’s vision of making CAR the dairy capital of the country, the project is to give additional livelihood to heirloom rice farmers.
Dr. Anthony Bantog, DA-CAR Livestock Coordinator, says that “we need to start this project the soonest so that we can full blast the heirloom rice growers’ additional livelihood, as committed by Secretary Piñol.”
After that, Dr. Charito Gemino, officer-in-charge of the NDA Luzon Cluster, discussed the technical details of the project. From the commitment of NDA in providing cattle to the trainings farmers will undergo. She mentioned that experiential learnings are the best way to gain knowledge and interest about dairy farming. You get to learn first-hand from dairy farmers itself.
While Rowena Bautista and Ronnie Erni, both from the NDA also, answered farmer queries regarding production to processing. “Food is what cattle need”, said Erni. Ifugao is situated in an area wherein there is sufficient source of food. Concerning marketing, the Mountain High Dairy Cooperative is seen as a potential buyer aside from the local community.
From the time that Sec. Piñol suggested and put out this project, the provinces in CAR had their reservations. But through these orientations, farmers get to ask and raise their concerns and get educated with what the project is.
RTFC then made a proposal for their group. The goals of the cooperative were made and the roles of each body were defined. A timeline for the project was also listed. The initial draft was submitted to DA-CAR and is up for finalization.
DA will be there in support to the farmers from start to finish. Dr. Cameron Odsey, DA-CAR Regional Technical Director for Research and Regulatory, hopes that this pilot project be a model and we get to see if it’s good. “We need to prove if dairy cattle farming is really good as an additional source of income”, he said.
