The Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Monday that a crossbred buffalo at its attached agency, the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), reached a yield of 20 kilograms and maintained a daily yield of more than 15 kilograms for two months during its second trimester of lactation.

The DA-PCC said the crossbred buffalo, identified as 7UP15001, maintained an average daily milk yield of 12.9 kilograms during its last lactation.

Furthermore, it yielded a total of 3883.7 kilograms of milk over a 299-day lactation period, which they said was the highest milk yield ever recorded among its herd of female buffaloes.

Surpassed typical lactation period

“7UP15001 has surpassed the typical lactation period of 265 days observed in dairy buffaloes within DA-PCC herds, which typically ranges from 200 to 369 days. Moreover, its milk production exceeds the 4.5 kg and 10 kg average milk yield per day per lactation for dairy buffalo and dairy cattle, respectively, during a 305-day lactation period under Philippine conditions,” said the DA-PCC.

“This crossbred stands as a testament to the concerted efforts of DA-PCC’s GIP, specifically focused on backcrossing to harness the genetic potential of carabaos for enhanced milk and meat production. Born on 6 January 2015, at DA-PCC’s institutional herd at the University of Los Baños, this buffalo boasts a genetic composition of 87.5 percent Bulgarian Murrah and 12.5 percent swamp buffalo,” it added.

The agency explained that the backcrossing approach involves mating purebred riverine buffaloes with native swamp buffaloes, or carabaos.

“The resulting offspring — crossbred carabaos — are bigger, meatier, and produce more milk than native carabaos, which can only provide an average of one to two liters of milk a day,” it said, noting that their backcrossing program follows a protocol of no-father-daughter mating to avoid inbreeding depression.

Groundbreaking record

PCC’s national coordinator of the Genetic Improvement Program, Dr. Ester Flores, said that the yield is a groundbreaking record, showcasing the program’s success.

“We are producing animals that can adapt to the tropical climate with little input and resource requirements. Our goal is to provide our farmers with the finest dairy carabao genetics through breeding,” she said.