THE Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) is seeking further support for the local dairy sector despite a 15-percent rise in local milk production in the first half of the year.
Danilo Fausto, PCAFI president, said the Dairy Industry Development Act of 1979 has been passed over 40 years ago but the country is still producing below 1 percent of its milk requirement.
“…Milk is the basic formula to increase the health and nutrition of children leading to a better absorption for learning and education. More focus and budget support on local milk production should be a priority consideration during the 2025 budget exercise being done by Congress and the Senate,” Fausto said, in a message to reporters.
Based on data from the National Dairy Authority (NDA), milk production in the first half of the year grew to 16,020 metric tons (MT) from 13,940 MT in the same period in 2023.
Local milk production accounts for approximately 21 percent of the total liquid milk supply, equivalent to about one glass out of every five glasses consumed.
Milk and dairy net supply, largely from imports, went up 12.7 percent for the first half of the year at 1.65 million MT compared to the 1.46 million MT for the first half 2023.
Milk import figures in the Philippines for the two comparative periods also went up by 12.9 percent and are almost identical to the country’s net supply numbers.
Despite the increase in volume, value of these imports decreased by 9.2 percent from $40.78 million to $37.01 million.
NDA said gross earnings in the dairy sector of the Philippines also jumped by 23.6 percent reaching P879.88 million for the first half of the year.
