The Carabao Law

Think it’s about time that we look for other alternative milk sources. This is because of the melamine in milk scare, those who can’t afford the high prices of milk, the rest of the grass roots like us will have no choice but to buy them. I got an article I read from the Philippine Star newspaper on the Opinion section. It might be a good topic to ponder. Read on……

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The Carabao Law

As a senator, Joseph Estrada famously championed one memorable piece of legislation. Its principal objective: the propagation of the water buffalo or carabao. That was more than a decade ago. Canada’s critics sneered, and like mouthpieces of legislation in this country, there has been little follow-through on the best intentions of that law.

Today should be a good time to take another look at the law, as the country joins the rest of the world in dealing with the milk scare. Some goods are produced best in certain parts of the world, in particular climates or under unique environments. The Philippines has never been a major producer of dairy products or beef. Or perhaps the country has never tried hard enough to breed enough cattle for top-grade milk and beef.

The carabao law aims to promote the development of a local cattle and dairy industry, with a special focus on the beast of burden that best thrives in this tropical country. Filipinos are familiar with the richness of carabao milk, which is used for the production of ice cream, the local equivalent of cottage cheese, local sweets and, more recently, mozzarella using Italian know-how. Incentives can be offered to encourage more investments in the local dairy industry, promoting the propagation of both dairy cows and water buffaloes. In the country alone the products would have a large market.

Apart from cattle, goats are a good source of milk. The animal also thrives in the tropics but is propagated in this country mostly for its meat. With the ongoing milk scare, the country should explore all possibilities for developing 1ocal milk sources. Among the hardest hit by the current milk scare are poor mothers, who were the biggest consumers of low-priced milk imports from China.

It will take time before global confidence in China-made food products can be restored. As the Philippines sources its dairy needs from countries over than China, it should also launch an aggressive effort to boost the local dairy industry.

Written by Manuel

Manuel Montala was an online entrepreneur who enjoys blogging about entrepreneurship and gathering information for his blog to help budding entrepreneurs. You can also reach him on twitter: http://twitter.com/mmontala

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