July 21, 2021. The production of buffalo/carabao milk is relatively small in the Philippines. In 2014, the local production of milk in the Philippines was 19.73 million liters, of which 34.77% is supplied by buffaloes/carabaos (PSA, 2015). Buffalo/carabao’s milk is primarily used for household and milk products such as ‘pastillas de leche’ and ‘kesong puti’. 100 grams of buffalo milk contains 6.5g of fat, 4.3g of protein, 5g of carbohydrates, 117kcal of energy, 210mg of calcium, 130mg of phosphorus, 0.2mg of iron, 0.04mg of thiamine, 0.10mg of riboflavin, 1 mg of vitamin C, and 0.14mg of vitamin B12 (Del Rosario, W.T., 2010). The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) is currently doing research to improve the buffalo/carabao’s breed in the country to help the farmers increase their milk production and contribute to lessen the malnutrition in the Philippines (Del Rosario, W.T., 2010).
In 2018, PCC proposed the development of PNS for Buffalo Milk with the objective to improve the quality and safety of raw buffalo/carabao milk. The proposal was immediately subjected to pre-assessment and later on included in the priority list for standardization. Series of Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings and Field Data Gathering (FDG) were conducted in 2019.The initial consultation was conducted in May 2021 to gather technical and commercial information as reference for the improvement of the initial draft PNS.
On July 13, 2021, the BAFS together with the TWG conducted the final consultation to further validate the provisions specified in the working draft Philippine National Standards (PNS) which were agreed from the series of TWG meetings conducted. The activity was participated by 16 relevant stakeholders mainly from government agencies, academe and research institutions, and private sectors. It was facilitated by the BAFS Management Team, led by Ms. Camille B. Baraquiel together with Mr. Aljon S. Reyes. Mr. Reyes facilitated the discussion of the working draft PNS.
A meeting will be conducted in September 2021 to deliberate and finalize the comments gathered from the consultation in order to come up with a standard. This is expected to be endorsed and approved by the DA Secretary for subsequent endorsement to the DTI – Bureau of Philippine Standard (BPS) for repository by October this year. ###
Figure 1. Group picture of the participants on the final stakeholder consultation for the
development of PNS for Milk – Water Buffalo – Specifications.
References:
- Del Rosario, W.T. (2010). Buffalo milk: the “udder cola”. https://www.pcc.gov.ph/buffalo-milk-the-udder-cola-3/
- Department of Science and Technology (DOST) - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD). (2016). Creating livelihood opportunities from the milk of the beast. http://www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/home/portal/index.php/quick-information-dispatch/2683-creating-livelihood-opportunities-from-the-milk-of-the-beast
- Philippine Carabao Center. The carabao as a commodity. https://www.pcc.gov.ph/the-carabao-as-a-commodity/