THE Negros First Ranch (NFR) at Barangay Sta. Rosa in Murcia town has been producing quality breeds of livestock animals, especially cattle, which is one measure of the Provincial Government to prevent inbreeding of local stocks.
Joselito Jaballa, officer-in-charge of Livestock Service Division of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), on Thursday told VoxPop Bacolod that the provincial government-run farm has served as a breeding center where stocks of animals for dispersal are being sourced out.
Jaballa said the NFR, in seven years of operation, was able to produce high-quality stocks through the infusion of cattle breeds like Charolais, Brahman, Simmental, and Holstein Friesian, among others.
This is through the Provincial Genetic Improvement Program (Pagip), one of the flagship programs of the Provincial Government, through the PVO, aimed at improving and upgrading the genetic makeup of local livestock and poultry animals.
"We do not encourage inbreeding, as much as possible we want to stop the cycle of existing stocks," he said, adding that prevention of inbreeding has been a continuing effort of the province to improve the local raisers' production as well as satisfy the market demand.
Jaballa stressed that "so far, we are not really importing meat. We even ship out cattle to other provinces, which is one positive result of our genetic improvement program."
PVO, earlier, announced that it is distributing this month 33 heads of high-quality breeds of bulls and heifers worth P1.1 million produced at the NFR.
Of which, 20 heads of Holstein Friesian cattle with crosses of sahiwal will be dispersed all over the six districts in the province.
The other 13 heads of cattle are up for distribution to the province's satellite breeding centers. Of which, three are bulls and 10 are heifers.
Also, the National Dairy Authority (NDA) in the Visayas is receiving 13 heads of pregnant dairy heifers worth about P1 million from the province this month.
These stocks, also produced at the NFR, are sort of "payment" of the province to the services it has availed from the agency.
"This is not the first time that we are supplying stocks to the NDA," Jaballa said, adding that "the NFR has already produced and dispersed a lot of breeds benefiting many farmers and raisers in the province."
He pointed out that the cattle industry of Negros Occidental is government-led. Meaning, more are into backyard production compared to commercial.
Thus, the Provincial Government is really banking on its animal genetic program, through the NFR, to sustain its strong cattle industry.
"If we will not breed, we will just continue to buy. Aside from higher cost, the procurement period would take long," Jaballa said, adding that "through the NFR, our farmers and breeders are provided of easy access to quality stocks."
