The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) and the National Dairy Authority (NDA) jointly conducted an island-wide orientation-training forum for Mindanao on insurance cover for the latter’sdairy cattle imports from New Zealand and Australia.

The orientation-training was conducted on March 22 in Cagayan de Oro City and was participated in 94 participants consisting of regional managers and staff of the PCIC in Regions IX, X, XI and XII, NDA staff in Mindanao and farmer stakeholders. It followed a similar forum in Luzon conducted a week earlier.

The forum-series is a proactive joint step of the PCIC and NDA to protect some P300 Million worth of animals that are intended to upgrade the genetic pool of the local dairy industry that is currently being revitalized.

The importation is part of the NDA’s Cattle Upgrading Program. Over 2,100 head of cattle will be shipped to the country, about 1,200 from New Zealand and the balance from Australia. The shipment includes some 1300 pregnant and over 800 non-pregnant cows, and 10 bulls.

Guest speaker, Dr. Everest S. Bungay, talked about the technical aspects of choosing and maintaining a good dairy animal and the livestock mortality insurance guidelines.

PCIC Vice President Antonio Uy discussed the insurance guidelines. He explained the premium rating, deductibles, co-insurance and the risks covered and not covered.

NDA’s Jacqueline S. Seguin, administrative and finance department head, and Sulpicio Bayawa, officer-in-charge of the operations department, discussed the NDA programs.

Ms. Seguin announced that the NDA’s 19 milk processing plants across the country are to be insured by the PCIC under its non-crop agricultural asset insurance.

DA Region X Director Lealyn Ramos shared the information that some 100 hectares in Dalwangan, Bukidnon has been approved by Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala as the dairy breeding center in Mindanao.

PCIC Board Member Dioscoro Granada, who represents the Mindanao farmers in the Board discussed the potentials of developing a dairy industry in Mindanao.

Under a PCIC-NDA agreement, the animals will be insured by the PCIC. This will shield from risks the investments of the NDA and its partner-cooperators, specially those grouped under the Dairy Multiplier Farmers Cooperators. PCIC’s livestock program protects livestock raisers against loss of carabao, cattle, horse, swine, goat, sheep, poultry and game fowls and animals due to accidental death or diseases.

Importation of the cattle was funded by some P70 Million from the NDA’s 2012 upgrading program and some P230 Million from the Disbursement Acceleration Plan implemented late last year to speed up government spending.