February 21, 2005

 

 

Philippines eyes accreditation of cattle, goat species

 

Philippine officials at the Department of Agriculture (DA) will review an accreditation program for genetically-superior cattle and goat breeder stocks which the agency's Livestock Development Division (LDD) proposed late last year.

 

DA-LDD Far Operations head Patricia Quaresma said that the proposal aims to identify the x best sources of cattle and goat breeders in the Philippines for the propagation of good livestock.

 

The review is estimated to conclude in a years' time.

 

If this proposal is approved, LDD will examine and evaluate cattle and goat breeders of various farm operators applying for accreditation to see if these animals can really be classified as being genetically superior breeder types.

 

Among the criteria used are size, weight, form and general appearance of the animals, reproductive characeristics, temperament and mothering ability.

 

Adopting such a strategy will likely minimize the possibility of people buying inferior livestock animals.

 

LDD stresses that breeding genetically-superior cattle and goat is essential as the country aims for a higher inventory of such livestock in the future.

 

Based on available figures from the Agriculture Department, cattle inventory for July 2004 was 2.57 million heads, almost similar to the count the agency posted during the same month in 2003.

 

The department also reported that total goat inventory for July 2004 was 3.45 million heads which is slightly higher than the 3.29 million heads counted a year earlier.

 

LDD began implementing its swine breeder accreditation program in 2004 to protect livestock raisers from purchasing genetically-inferior hogs.