CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 23 October) — Key government agencies and other stakeholders have agreed to formulate a roadmap for the dairy industry in Northern Mindanao.
In a roundtable discussion Tuesday at Harbor Lights Hotel here, the participants formed a technical working group tasked to identify targets for the following: production, processing, research and development and capability-building, marketing, and financing.
The TWG has until March 2026 to finish the draft of the Regional Dairy Industry Development Roadmap.
The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 10, through Regional Executive Director Jose Apollo Y. Pacamalan, is expected to issue an order or directive that will make the roadmap an official document and enable it to access the necessary funding.
DA-RFO 10 and the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) will serve as the co-overall anchors for the roadmap formulation.
Pacamalan described the drafting of a regional roadmap as timely in view of the recent passage of Republic Act 12308 (Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act), which elevates the Bureau of Animal Industry to a line agency of the Department of Agriculture, expanding its regulatory oversight.
The law also strengthens the Philippine Carabao Center and National Dairy Authority (NDA) by assigning them expanded mandates, including in biotechnology and vaccine development.
Northern Mindanao ranks second nationwide in terms of milk production for the period January to June 2025, according to data from the NDA. The region has a total milk production of 2.7 million liters or 14.9 percent of the national output, second only to Region 4-A with 4.8 million liters or 26.4 percent of the national production.
Nationwide, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao recorded the lowest milk output for the same period — 47,750 liters, or 0.3 percent of the national production.
Tuesday’s roundtable discussion was participated in by officials from the provincial agriculture offices in the region, the National Dairy Authority, Philippine Carabao Center, dairy cooperatives, and Central Mindanao University.
It was convened by DA RFO 10 and NATCCO after a discussion where they realized the need to assess the progress and impact of the Philippine Dairy Industry Roadmap at the regional level — particularly in Region 10, which is recognized as one of the country’s major market grids.
The Philippine Dairy Industry Roadmap aims to achieve a 5.4-percent self-sufficiency by 2025.
The country currently imports 98 percent of its dairy needs, mainly from the US and New Zealand. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)
