The donated carabaos are being unloaded from a truck. (Photo from the Philippine Carabao Center)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) under the Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that it gave 25 carabaos to 22 farmers in Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija.
This was under the PCC’s Expanded Gatasang Kalabaw Convergence Project, which aims to produce locally-produced milk for farmers’ livelihoods and the government’s feeding programs.
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Other government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Commission on Population and Development are also part of the project.
According to PCC Deputy Executive Director Caro Salces, the aim was to increase milk sufficiency to reduce milk importation.
“You are partners of the government in increasing milk sufficiency so that we don’t need to import milk from other countries,” Salces said in Filipino.
Nampicuan Mayor Victor Badar also told the farmers to take care of the carabaos to ensure high milk production.
“The process undertaken by government agencies to give you milking carabaos was hard. So take care of them well so milk production in our location is high,” he said.