Philippine Carabao Center


The Philippine Carabao Center an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, was established at Science City of Muñoz in Nueva Ecija province in 1992 to breed and cross carabao based on high-yield Murrah buffalo in the Philippines as a multi-purpose animal that can be raised for milk, meat, hide, and draft.

History

It was set up in 1992 on a piece of land donated by Central Luzon State University on its main campus, initially with network centers. 7 more network centers were added in 1994 bringing the total to 13. It was sponsored as a bill by the then senator Joseph Estrada and eventually enacted as a law through Republic Act 7307 or the Philippine Carabao Act of 1992.

Imported Breeds

To improve the breeds and milk yield, high milk yield Murrah buffalo breed were imported from the
Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar, India, a reputed species of the dairy type originating from Haryana state of India. Murrah breed are reputed as a high milk yield breed that can produce an average of more than eight liters of milk daily over a 300 days long annual productive cycle. Better performing Murrah buffalo can produce 12 to 15 liters per day on average, with top performers going up to 25 liters per day. PCC also imported Murrah breed from non-native-breed third-party countries such Bulgaria, USA and Latin America. PCC breeds and cross-breeds Murrah buffalo through artificial insemination.

Reproduction Technology

The PCC had some success in reproductive biotechnology in 2004 when the first test-tube buffalo was born on April 5, also the birthday of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Incidentally, the test-tube buffalo is a female and was named as "Glory" after the President.

Milk Yield Improvement

Late in 2007, according to Filipino scientists, the Center located in Nueva Ecija initiated a study to breed the super water buffalo that could produce 4 to 18 liters of milk/day using gene-based technology. The majority of the funding came from the Department of Science and Technology. When this marker-assisted selection process is perfected it will allow the poor farmers to conserve their resources by raising only the best producers that are genetically selected soon after birth.

Network Centers

PCC has 13 network centers at various host universities including the following: