BACOLOD City – The provincial government-run Negros First Ranch (NFR) in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Murcia town in Negros Occidental is now supplying dairy cattle to the National Dairy Authority (NDA) in the Visayas.
Joselito Jaballa, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) Livestock Service Division, said Tuesday they are preparing for the transport of the 13 heads of pregnant heifers.
The dairy cattle, worth about P1 million, will be transported to the NDA-Visayas station in Cebu within the month.
Jaballa said the ranch in Negros Occidental serves as a dairy multiplier farm of the NDA as the latter has been supplying dairy stocks to the province being used in local milk production.
Since the NFR avails of NDA’s services, such as provision of imported dairy animals, the ranch provides the agency pregnant dairy heifer stocks as a form of payment, he added.
Jaballa said dairy cattle will be dispersed by the NDA in Antique.
This is a validation that Negros Occidental has sustained its status as one of the leaders or major contributors in the country’s livestock industry, he added.
Meanwhile, the PVO will also distribute this month 33 heads of high-quality breeds of bulls and heifers worth PHP1.1 million to all six districts of Negros Occidental.
These include 20 heads of Holstein Friesian cattle with crosses of sahiwal, as well as 13 heads of cattle, including three bulls and 10 heifers, which will be dispersed to the province’s satellite breeding centers.
The high-quality breeds are produced at the NFR under the Provincial Animal Genetic Improvement Program, which is one of the flagship programs of the provincial government aimed at improving and upgrading the genetic makeup of local livestock and poultry animals. (PNA)
