Milk production up, importation down – NDA

MANILA, Philippines — The country has recorded an increase in local milk production and a decrease in milk importation, according to the National Dairy Administration.

NDA officials said the country’s current milk import is down to 98 percent from 99 percent last year.

In his speech during the 29th anniversary of the NDA in Quezon City yesterday, NDA officer-in-charge Gavino Alfredo Benitez said the agency was on track toward attaining its goal to increase local milk sufficiency by five percent in 2028, with a target of 80 million liters.

“I am pleased to share that based on the figures we have received, we project that by 2025 we will be halfway through our goal, with milk production by then at about 40 million liters. With our continued efforts and teamwork, we will soon reach or even surpass our target,” Benitez said.

Data from the NDA showed that herd production grew by 45 percent, from 52,000 in 2018 to 75,000 in 2023.

Milk production grew by 65 percent, from 17 million liters in 2018 to 28 million liters in 2023.

Meanwhile, Danilo Fausto, president of the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI), contradicted the figures of the NDA, saying the total local milk production remains below one percent.

“In the past 45 years, we’ve been developing the dairy industry. We are still below the one percent sufficiency level. We need to do something about it,” Fausto said.

Fausto, who is also chairman of the Dairy Confederation of the Philippines, said the Department of Agriculture should implement Republic Act 7884 or the Dairy Development Act.

The law requires multinational companies to source five percent of their requirement from local suppliers.

“We are insisting on the implementation of section 17 of RA 7884, which is the Dairy Development Act. That section requires commercial processors and traders, the multinationals who sell dairy products in the country, to source a certain percentage of their requirement from local suppliers,” Fausto said.

He said local stakeholders raised the issue during a meeting with Agriculuture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Thursday.

“We requested the secretary to implement it now. If the suppliers cannot meet