THE National Dairy Authority (NDA) said it is seeking to establish a stock farm in Palawan to further grow the dairy herd.

Administrator Marcus Antonius T. Andaya said Palawan is being considered, further expanding the network of stock farms from the five that are expected to be operational by next year.

“We are still targeting another stock farm undergoing study, in Palawan,” Mr. Andaya said in a briefing last week.

“This would balance the positioning of our stock farms,” he said, adding that the Palawan site is likely to serve Southern Luzon.

The NDA is planning to import dairy cattle  breeding stock to allow the offspring to acclimate to the Philippines.

“When the cattle arrive, they won’t be accustomed to our climate, and we may not have good results. They need to be put in our stock farms first,” he said.

The current network of five stock farms are set to be completed by the end of the year, with operations set to launch by early 2025. They will be located in Nueva Ecija, Bohol, Bukidnon, Cotabato, and Agusan del Sur.

He added that the cattle that will be imported for stock farms are expected to arrive by July 2025.

The NDA aims to increase dairy production to 80 million liters per year by 2028, equivalent to about 5% of milk demand. It operates in 68 provinces, overseeing almost 2,500 farmers and 1,324 dairy organizations.

Mr. Andaya said the milk self-sufficiency rate was 1.54% as of June. The near-term target is 2.66% by 2025.

The Philippines must import the bulk of its dairy needs. Imports are forecast to increase 7.3% in 2024 to 2.49 million metric tons of milk equivalent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. — Adrian H. Halili