Dairy industry struggles to meet local demand

LOCAL dairy industry stakeholders are finding ways to increase production and meet demand for milk and milk products in the country.

Dairy confederation chairman Danilo Fausto revealed the steep challenge facing local milk producers with their industry supplying only one percent of the national demand while the rest of supply comes from abroad.

But he said their quest for increasing their share of the market has to start somewhere, particularly in the fresh milk industry, which the group aims to reach with targets from its 19 percent stake last year to a 43 percent stake in the local market by 2016.

The growing interest in the lucrative dairy industry, he said, is also evident in the attendance in this year’s 15th Dairy Congress and Expo held in the Summer Capital with more than 500 entrepreneurs and dairy stakeholders joining discussions to help improve the industry.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), through the National Dairy Authority, aims to help local dairy farmers increase their produce by importing some 50,000 cattle heads by the end of the Aquino administration.

This was revealed by DA assistant secretary Davinio Catbagan, claiming that through the Agriculture and Fisheries Roadmap for 2025, government plans to go apolitical in its approach in addressing agricultural concerns.

The department has also eyed to improve infrastructure and upgrade skills of industry players to make their produce at par with internationally supplied milk products

At this point, he said only one out of four glasses of milk in the country come from local producers making them only share a small part in the US$847 million annual sales of countries like Australia, New Zealand and United States in the country. (JM Agreda)