Bohol Awaiting Arrival of Brazilian Girolando Cattle

The Department of Agriculture (DA) through Secretary Emmanuel Piñol is set to bring to Bohol the first batch of Girolando cattles which the country imports from Brazil.

As much as 2,000 heads are expected to arrive in Bohol this year.

Governor Edgar Chatto, in his message to Boholanos gathered during the opening of Bohol’s third Dairy Box, bared the development as Sec. Piñol has wanted to know how Boholanos would take the plan to transform the province for the country’s dairy requirements and cut on imported dairy dependence.

Chatto said the government through the DA plans to import about 5,000 heads of Girolando dairy cattle from Brazil to attain the goal.

He added that the government is now awaiting the completion of the quarantine of these cattle to make sure that these imported breeds carry no diseases that can affect the native breeds in the province.

Bohol, which has been declared free from foot and mouth disease affecting cloven livestock, is also particularly cautious about the entry of the disease that can be carried by imported breeds.

Bohol has over 3,000 hectares of lands at the Ubay Stock Farm which could be ideal for the target of increasing the local supply to respond to the national requirement.

The Philippines has been largely dependent on imported milk and dairy products from New Zealand and other countries like the United States and Canada, as only 1.8 percent of the national requirement are produced here.

At the Ubay Stock Farm is the National Dairy Authority, which also operates a cattle dairy farm, while in the same complex is the Philippine Carabao Center, which has now produced an average of 200 liters of buffalo milk daily.

Bohol livestock adopters who availed of the New Zealand Cattle dispersal program noted that milk production is not much with the tropics.

Already averaging 200 liters of carabao milk a day from its buffalo livestock farmers, the next target is to continue with the Italian Buffalo dispersal while looking at the Girolando breeds.

Research showed that Girolando cattle is a cross breed from the Dutch breed Gir and the Holtein cattle.

The goal was to get an improved breed with high productivity, fertility, and efficiency and still not be affected by the warm equatorial climate.

The female Girolando has physiological characteristics perfect for production in the tropics like udder capacity and support, size of teats, high milk production, and black and white spots perfect for its thermo-regulatory capacity, among others.

According to the cattlesite.com, Girolandos start producing calves at around 30 months and peaks in milk production at 10 years to 15 years, with birth intervals at 410 days.

The governor has included the plan to realize the DA’s target of making Bohol the country’s dairy capital in the provincial government’s 2018 ten priority programs. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)