Dimaporo, PCARRD talk S&T over cappuccino

August 4, 2007 - Political kingpin, Cong. Abdullah Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte discussed with PCARRD officials possible collaboration for capability building on dairy breeding and reproduction in the province.

It can be recalled that Cong. Dimaporo has embarked on a dairy project using Holstein-Sahiwal cattle from New Zealand as part of his commitment to improve the nutrition of his constituents,

particularly children. Operated by the Lanao Foundation, Inc (LFI), the project is already producing milk, which undergoes hygienic processing in a state-of-the-art milk plant prior to marketing.

The solon hopes that the progenies produced from the project will be distributed to qualified small dairy farmers in the province or sold to other farmers in Mindanao. He likewise sees that animals unfit for breeding will eventually be used for producing Halal meat.

In support of the solon's initiatives, PCARRD has developed a database application that serves as a decision-support tool for managing routine dairy farm operations. The tool
can easily track milk production, calving, other reproductive parameters and breeding schedule of dairy cows on a daily basis using actual data collected from the animals.

PCARRD presented the said tool in Quezon City to Cong. Dimaporo in what PCARRD Director for Livestock Research, Dr. Edwin C. Villar describes as "S&T over a cup of cappuccino" meeting.

PCARRD Executive Director, Dr. Patricio Faylon and Dr. Villar also agreed to help operationalize the computer-assisted milk recording and breeding program and train
human resource in LFI through PCARRD's livestock expert, Dr. Synan S. Baguio. Both the solon and PCARRD see this tool as crucial in making sound decision for improving the productivity of the dairy herd.

The parties also discussed the progress of the S&T Based Farm project on forage corn being coordinated by DOST Regional Director, Dr. Angelito C. Alolod with the Sultan Naga Dimaporo municipality's Techno Pinoy Center housed at the Mindanao State University (MSU) - Lanao del Norte Agricultural College (LNAC) and with the LFI, which buys the forage corn.

During the Field Day of the S&T-based Farm held last 20 July 2007, a number of farmers and visitors indicated interest on contract growing scheme. So far, the project is running smoothly with farmer cooperators already generating an average of P20,000 - P24,000/ha.

The congressman promised to address the concerns of the current cooperators and implementors of the S&T-based Farm particularly issues on contract price, and availability of forage chopper and delivery truck during harvest. (Edwin C. Villar, S&T Media Service)