Beyond its beautiful landscapes and scenic sites, adding to the unique features of Bohol is, its people.

In the morning, even before the sun lights up the horizon, men and women residents of Barangay Casate, in Ubay, Bohol are already busy in their farms, most of them milking carabaos. Residents here say the same could be observed in nearby baragays.  This is quite an unusual scene, and though toilsome, it’s fun. Well, many of them consider it as their major source of income.

According to Governor Edgar Chatto, “The province of Bohol has a Dairy Development Program and, part of our initiatives already undertaken was the crafting of a business plan relative to carabao dairy processing and marketing which we submitted for possible funding support under the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).”

“Over the past few years, our local dairy production and income derived from sales not only of raw milk but, of its processed products had been steadily increasing. We need to sustain it and thus, we are taking some steps to further develop this industry,” Gov. Chatto said.

On September 15, 2015, residents here took some time to gather in time for the visit of the 1^st World Bank Mission Team for a public consultation on the proposed Bohol Dairy Processing and Marketing Enterprise.

This sub project, with a financial requirement of Php9,227,528.64, as proposed, will start off on January 10, 2016 and is expected to be complete some time on July 2016. It is expected to benefit 504 farmer beneficiaries in 23 clusters or dairy producers associations from the municipalities of Ubay, Mabini, Alicia, Dagohoy, and San Miguel.

During an interview, Mr. Fidel C. Rana, a resident of Brgy. Casate, in Ubay and a potential sub project farmer-beneficiary said, “Carabao is not just a working animal for us, it’s milk is our major source of income. We own four carabaos and for each, we collect at least 4 liters per day.  The buying price for raw milk is at Php45 per liter thus, in a month, we earn Php5,000 to Php7,000. We use the income that we get here for our daily expenses and to support the education of our children.”

“We hope that the proposed sub project will be realized so we could do more than just rely on raw milk that we collect, to further increase our income,” he intoned.

Mr. Fidel C. Rana, a resident of Brgy. Casate, Ubay, Bohol and a potential farmer-beneficiary of the proposed Bohol Carabao Dairy Processing and Marketing Enterprise sub project under the PRDP poses with one of his hi-breed dairy animals

Meanwhile, Ms Gina Dumanig, a local dairy technician assisting the Bohol Dairy Producers’ Association (BoDPA) said, “The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) stationed in Brgy. Lomangog, in Ubay is our market outlet for raw milk. Milk products from the PCC are sold in retail stores, school canteens and in shopping malls. The demand is particularly high in school canteens since the local government unit  is intensifying its drive against manutrition.”

She further stressed, “If the proposed sub project under the PRDP gets implemented, expectedly, farmers will have much higher and sustainable incomes and at the same time, it will help address our concern on malnutrition.”(RGMACAPAÑAS InfoACE RPCO 8)