mb.com.ph; September 23, 2011, 3:29pm

MANILA, Philippines -- It is always heartening to hear of new developments i n various sectors of farming. In the case of goat dairying, there are new developments that are brewing.

We just got an email from our friend Rene Almeda of Alaminos Goat Farm which has been doing a good job at producing goat’s milk scientifically, i.e., conducting research to arrive at practical approaches to improving the industry they are in.

He said that they are placing all their bet on the Alaminos Mitra- Saanen cross for the future of their dairy operation. As a backgrounder, their so-called Mitra Line was developed from the progenies of an Anglo Nubian doe that produced multiple births several years back. The progenies are fast-growing, tall and with long bodies. They have crossed with their purebred Saanen (a dairy breed) and the results are short of fantastic.

The Almedas (his sons Art and Totie are involved in their goat business) are banking on the cross of Mitra Line and Saanen to come up with a dairy goat adapted to the tropical environment of the Philippines.

He said that heterosis would play an important factor for the hybrid AMS (Alaminos Mitra Saanen) doelings to cope with the tropical conditions. The drawback here, he notes, is the time required to do all the work in breeding them. However, he adds that work on the part of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) would finally push through in early 2012 in the commercialization of feeding malunggay to lactating dairy goats. On the part of the Almedas, they will conduct parallel work with feeding Indigofera for dairy goats.

Rene is very upbeat on the eventual development of a technology that will enable goat farmers to produce goat’s milk efficiently under the tropical environment of the Philippines.

He said this will be a culmination of their successful work done with the Alaminos Salad Garden feeding program combined with the ongoing Mitra Dairy Line breeding program.

Alaminos Goat Farm, he said, has laid out a strategic breeding plan and a feeding program to meet the nutritional requirements to maximize the full genetic potential of the breed being developed under their program.

Good genetics and good nutrition spell success in dairying goats in the Philippines. The thing to watch, he said, is when Alaminos Goat Farm starts to produce the Alaminos Mitra Saanen (AMS) cross in commercial numbers. This would signal that they would have reached their goal in the Mitra Dairy Line breeding program.

In early 2012, Rene said, Alaminos Goat Farm will be doing cooperative work with the BAI and BAR in commercializing the technology in feeding dairy goats in lactation. The focus would be the addition of malunggay to lactating dairy goats’ feed ration to determine its commercial viability.

On the part of Alaminos Goat Farm, it will do a parallel work using the Indigofera for feeding lactating dairy goats. He is optimistic that the data to be collected would once and for all show the viability of commercializing the technology of adding Indigofera to the ration of dairy goats in lactation.

Rene says that AGF still needs more time and is placing all their bet on the Alaminos Mitra Saanen cross and the Alaminos Salad Garden to make things happen for their goat dairy operation.

Alaminos Goat Farm will be showcasing their goats and the products that they are producing at the Agrilink trade show on October 6 to 8 at the World Trade Center-Metro Manila. Log on to zacsarian.blogspot. com.(By ZAC B. SARIAN)

Source: Something new in dairy goats