Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate agriculture and food committee, posed a challenge to Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) to continue to champion locally-produced carabao milk.
“PCC should make milk available, accessible, and affordable to all,” Villar said during the PCC’s 30th Anniversary with the theme: “PCC at 30: Continuing the Legacy of Service Excellence and Synergy.”
She noted that milk security is still the main challenge for PCC now and in the future. She said there are still many things left to be done.
“PCC should continue working with their significant partners like governments of US, Japan, and Korea, other national government agencies, both houses of Congress, as well as the regional, provincial, and municipal local government units,” said Villar.
She said the main challenges are water scarcity, mechanization, low reproductive efficiency, low forage production and lack of records for the evolution of the dairy farms’ production
As a result, she stressed that the total country’s milk production together with the NDA is only one percent of the domestic demand.
With our country’s population which is expected to grow to 145 million by 2050 from today’s 110 million plus, she said our food insecurity will remain an issue in the decades ahead.
This includes the lack of locally produced milk.
“Not enough milk in a child’s diet has a ripple effect on his health. If the child cannot grow healthy and strong, he will have difficulty to learn in school and when he gets older, he will have a problem to earn a living and to eventually be a productive member of society,” Villar said.
According to Villar, these scenarios should not be allowed to happen.
The PCC was created in 1992 to pursue the conservation, propagation and promotion of the water buffalo as a source of milk and meat.