Entrepreneurial Farmer

Ambrosio R. Villorente

Philippines Imports 99% Milk Consumption

The Philippines is sourcing 99 percent of her milk and dairy products requirements from abroad specifically from Australia and New Zealand valued at US$400 million. This does not include milk and dairy importation from Europe and North America specifically from Switzerland and the United States.

It is hard to imagine why only one percent of milk and dairy products consumption are produced in the Philippines. And this present consumption is way below the per capita nutritional requirement of the Filipino. The average dairy per capita daily consumption is one drop, repeat one drop.

The great bulk of milk consumption goes to infant. The Filipino adults do not drink milk. If ever, only a few does, the majority takes milk one spoon mix with a cup of coffee daily.

This situation explains why Filipinos are undernourished, susceptible to the attack of diseases, and with weak bones.

Until today, the Philippines has failed in the development of livestock for milk production. It has been importing dairy breeds of goat and cattle for studies and breeding for adoption in the Philippines climatic condition through the Department of Agriculture (DA). Thank God for until today, no dairy breed of livestock is developed suited for Philippines climatic condition.

According to Naomi Torreta of the National Dairy Administration (NDA), the Philippines produces 13 million kilograms of milk annually 63 percent of which are cow’s milk, 36 percent carabaos and about one percent from goats. Did you drink a glass of milk today?

Humiliating The Farmer

Last Kalibo Sto. Niño Ati-Atihan Festival, one of the streamers reads: "Pobreng Mangunguma" which translation is "poor farmer". This streamer was carried around Kalibo by one of the participating tribes which came from Western part of Aklan. While it is true that Filipino farmers belong to the most oppressed, depressed, and deprived sector of Philippines society, they do not deserve such humiliation. Such negative impression may turn them off, and their enthusiasm dampened. What those people who "have" can do is provide positive reinforcement rather than the negative.

May negative comment on the state of living of the farmers as a sector shall not be repeated.

Stagnant Water

Stagnant water in Kalibo were abundant during the Kalibo Sto. Niño Ati-Atihan Festival celebration on January 12 – 18, 2009. Stagnant water were available in L. Barrios and Acevedo streets in Poblacion, Kalibo. Until February 1 last week, there was still stagnant waters.

There are two ways to prevent stagnant waters on the road. First, is to avoid the rainfall; and second is to repair the roads with stagnant water or construct drainage canals. But man cannot control nature. He can only minimize the negative effect of nature, vis-à-vis rain. Therefore the best solution to avoid stagnant water is to construct effective drainage.

Mariculture Park

In Rizal, Zamboanga del Norte, fisherfolks launched what they called the "Rizal Mariculture Park" project in the coastal barangay Sebaca. It is a 200-hectare mariculture zone designed to increase fish production using environment friendly method, proper environ-mental management and obedience to laws, rules and regulations.

During the launching, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources turned over to the 200 stakeholders 25 sets of bottom set gill nets, 50 sets of multiple long line, and 2,500 kilograms of seaweeds seedlings.

During the launching, Dr. Lory Tan of the World Wildlife Fund – Philippines challenged the fisherfolks to take the first move to use the new technology in order to get the maximum benefits of the mariculture park. /MP