The Philippines’s milk production this year could rise by a fifth on an annual basis to a record high of over 30 million liters driven by higher productivity and expanding domestic dairy herd.
National Dairy Authority (NDA) Administrator Farrell Benjelix C. Magtoto said he is confident that the country will breach the 30-million-liter output mark for the first time in history this year.
Based on the NDA’s estimates, total milk production is projected to hit 31.6 million liters, 20 percent over last year’s 26.3 million liters.
“We have been exhibiting a good performance in terms of milk production despite the fact that we are still recovering from the pandemic,” Magtoto told reporters on the sidelines of the launching of the Philippine-Netherlands Dairy Excellence Center in Makati on Wednesday.
The country’s dairy output from January to September reached 23.37 million liters, a fifth higher than the 26.3 million liters recorded in the same period a year ago, official government data showed.
Magtoto attributed the double-digit growth rate to higher milk productivity per cow, growing local dairy herd, and “better business mindset” of dairy farmers.
He said they expect the increase in local production to continue in the coming years with the arrival of 4,000 imported dairy cows next year.
Magtoto said the imported dairy herd are already impregnated and are expected to give birth within three to four months after arriving in the country.
He also said these imported cows are inseminated with slick genes that allow their offsprings to have “heat-tolerant genes,” making them more adaptive to the country’s tropical climate.
“With those genes, they will be more adaptive to the country’s climate and become more productive in producing milk.”
The Philippines’s local milk output is only sufficient to meet a percentage of its total requirement. The country imports nearly all of its milk supply.
The United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila earlier projected that Philippine milk output would increase to 32,000 metric tons (MT) next year due to the increase in dairy herd. The country’s estimated dairy output this year is 31,000 MT.
“Post keeps cow’s milk production at 17,000 MT, which represents a 54 percent share of total production. Production will rebound, boosted by more dairy animals and the active implementation of the government’s dairy development projects,” it said.
“Despite improvements in production, the Philippines supplies only 1 percent of its total annual dairy requirement, with the rest imported. Production growth has been slow in previous years because of the inability to increase the dairy herd, mostly due to insufficient funding and little investment from the private sector.” (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/10/24/phl-milk-imports-seen-rising-on-higher-demand/)
Image credits: Mike Mergen/Bloomberg
