In support of the development of the Philippine dairy industry, Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, inserted P250 million funding for the expansion of dairy areas in the country through the Creation of Clustered Dairy Production Enterprises.

The said project aims to contribute to the attainment of food security, poverty reduction and economic growth. Its specific targets include the establishment of 22 new dairy production enterprises; procurement and distribution of 1,125 dairy cattle to qualified dairy farmers; production of an average of four million liters of milk annually over a 10-year period; provision of technical support on animal health as well as post harvest facilities like milk processing plants; and significant increase in the income of dairy farmers.

Four provinces in the Visayas have been chosen for this project. These are Cebu and Negros Oriental in Central Visayas, and Aklan and Guimaras for Western Visayas.
To date, initial meetings have already been done with the local government units (LGUs) of Cebu, Aklan and Negros Oriental.

Last February 22-23, 2022, the NDA Visayas Management held a meeting with Negros Oriental Provincial Veterinarian Belinda B. Villahermosa regarding the preparation for and the implementation of the project.

In Guimaras, Assistant Department Manager for Western Visayas Vicente B. Bitlinamisa III met with Congresswoman Ma. Lucille L. Nava, District Representative of Guimaras together with Mr. Alvin L. Nava, Acting Provincial Agriculturist, Province of Guimaras last March 2, 2022.

Meanwhile, a meeting with Mayor Samsam Gullas as the representative of Cong. Eduardo Gullas of the First District of Cebu was held on March 3, 2022.
While no final areas have been decided yet, initial efforts will start to search for qualified program beneficiaries within these provinces. Once these beneficiary farmer groups have been identified, dairy orientations will start and farm evaluations for those who are pre-qualified to go into dairy farming.

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