Why promote carabao dairying when dairy cattle may be more efficient?
The temperate breed of dairy cattle such as Holstein Friesian is more efficient than buffalo in terms of milk production. However, under tropical condition like the Philippines’, the purebred Holstein cannot perform well. Thus, efforts have been instituted to introduce tropical breed into Holstein Friesian, e.g., Sahiwal, to produce Sahiwal-Holstein crosses. On the other hand, the dairy breed of buffalo, the Murrah, can produce 12 to 15 liters of milk, which has 7-8% milk fat, each day. In fact, under low level of management typical in the villages, buffalo may be a more advantageous animal. Developing the carabao as potential source of milk and meat, than just draft, does not complete but rather complements the desired local dairy development. What is rather interesting is that our millions of farmers have about 3.2 million carabaos and that they have been used to raising these animals for a millennium. Genetically improving their animals constitute a minor change compared to replacin
