MANILA — The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) is set to lead on March 26 at its headquarters in Nueva Ecija province a knowledge-sharing activity highlighting the agency’s initiatives, services, and achievements in the past 25 years.
Called Knowledge Cafe, the activity is part of PCC’s celebration for its silver anniversary this month.
The celebration is anchored on the theme “PCC @ 25: Great to Share and Celebrate.”
“PCC’s silver anniversary celebration symbolizes our sincere gratitude to the carabao industry partners and supporters, who stood by us all
these years. It is, thus, a celebration of the bountiful fruits of the partnership now being shared among millions of carabao industry stakeholders,” said PCC Executive Director Dr. Arnel del Barrio.
Republic Act 7307, or the Philippine Carabao Act of 1992, created PCC, the government agency tasked with conserving, propagating, and promoting the Philippine carabao or water buffalo as a source of draft animal power, meat, milk and hide.
Such tasks target improving nutrition, income levels, and general well-being of the public, particularly rural farming families, noted the agency.
The PCC plans to kick off its 25th anniversary celebration with a devotional thanksgiving ceremony and motorcade in the morning of March 26.
On Tuesday morning (March 27), PCC scheduled holding its anniversary program proper with Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel
Piñol, Manila Mayor and former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, and Senator Cynthia Villar as expected guests of honor.
Piñol assured DA’s assistance on raising genetically good dairy animals like carabaos, cattle, and goats.
During his stint in Congress, Estrada proposed a legislation that eventually led to RA 7307’s approval.
Villar at present heads the Senate’s agriculture and food committee.
The PCC will conclude the celebration on Tuesday night with a tribute to this agency’s pillars, mentors, partners, clients, as well as retired and existing personnel.
In its January 2017-June 2017 situation report, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the total inventory of carabaos in the country as of
July 1, 2017 was 2.88 million heads.
Such inventory was 0.18-percent lower than the stocks the year earlier, noted PSA.
The PCC said the perceived main constraints to Philippine production of carabaos are biological characteristics of these animals and socio-economic factors.
“Water buffaloes have inherently longer gestation period than any other domesticated farm animal,” said PCC, citing carabaos’ biological drawback.
The average gestation length is 310 to 315 days. Given a post-partum service period of 60 to 90 days, yearly production of calf is not achievable even under the best conditions. This characteristic has a major effect on the measure of overall reproduction efficiency over a given period.”
The PCC added capital and availability of low-cost buffalo meat from India, which provides local meat processors the option to use imported meat instead, are among the major socio-economic constraints to Philippine carabao production.
The agency continues spearheading the National Carabao Development Program (NCDP) that aims to help meet RA 7307’s goals.
“NCDP is premised on potential benefits to be derived from crossing riverine buffaloes with the Philippine carabao to improve genetic potential for meat and milk production without disregard of draft and hide,” said PCC.
The program “takes cognizant of the need to conserve the existing germplasm of the native animals and at the same time establishes gene pools of elite animals intended for milk and meat improvement,” it added. (Catherine Teves/PNA)
