JORDAN, Guimaras – Different stakeholders marked the beginning of the construction of the Dairy Box in the island province of Guimaras.
The Dairy Box is an infrastructure support for small-hold dairy buffalo farmers designed to provide them opportunities such as access to the commercial market thus increasing their income.
The groundbreaking was held at the capitol grounds on July 8.
The P10-million infrastructure project is a one-stop-shop for carabao-based products conceptualized by the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC).
The office of Sen. Cynthia Villar, chairperson, Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture, provided the budget for the construction of the facility.
The operations of the Dairy Box will be managed by the Guimaras Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GEMPC).
Philippine Carabao Center director Arn D. Granada said the amount allotted for the 8×10 square meters facility is P2 million while the remaining P8 million is intended for the purchase of the equipment for the operation of Dairy Box.
This will be the fourth Dairy Box outlet in Western Visayas, according to Granada, with the first two outlets built in Antique and another one in the town of Barotac Viejo in the province of Iloilo.
The project aims to strengthen the country’s production of dairy products and not to rely mainly on imports.
Granada shared that the Philippine Dairy Sector is only producing 26 million liters of milk a year which is 0.8 percent only of the local demand.
He added that the sustainability of the Dairy Box will depend on the cooperation of the stakeholders.
“We need to help one another to make it sustainable…a functional enterprise,” Granada said.
Senator Villar, in her video message, emphasized the importance of the facility for the improvement of the country’s dairy production.
“Mahalaga ang mga ganitong mga gawain para mapalaganap ang pagpagatas sa ating bansa dahil sa ating malaking kakulangan ng gatas sa bansa. Kailangan natin mapaganda ang ating dairy production,” she said.
Mercy Diaz, chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Guimaras Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (GEMPC), said they will do their best to make the project successful because this will be of great help to the community.
“With the talent and the skill and the ability and the knowledge of the GEMPC officers… this project will be of great help to our community. Mangin successful ini nga project,” Diaz said.
The Philippine Carabao Center has already given 40 carabaos to Guimaras to jumpstart the project./PN
