The National Dairy Authority (NDA) met with Malaysian dairy executives at Farm Fresh Berhad last week to explore a proposed collaboration.
The NDA said the focus of the discussions was the establishment of a dairy farm with a herd of 3,000 cows by Farm Fresh Philippine subsidiary, Farm Fresh Inc.
According to the agency, the Malaysian firm is keen on securing 200 hectares of land in south Luzon.
The NDA said the Malaysians initially secured an area in San Simon, Pampanga which will now be used for dairy processing as the weather there is rated too hot for cattle raising.
Gabriel Lagamayo, NDA administrator, said the dairy processing facility is expected to substantially increase milk supply from domestic dairy farmers.
Loi Tuan Ee, Farm Fresh Berhad founder, noted the Philippines and Malaysia share similarities in terms of topography and climate.
Farm Fresh operates five dairies in Malaysia and another in Australia. It also oversees two processing facilities in Malaysia and one in Australia.
Earlier in June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, concurrent Department of Agriculture secretary, met with Farm Fresh Berhad executives during his state visit to Malaysia.
The meeting resulted in a pledge to pursue a $20 million investment in cattle breeding for milk production purposes.
NDA data show local milk production went up 15 percent last year to 30.28 million kilos from only 26.3 million kilos in 2021 from a
herd inventory of 71,819 heads, up 3.2 percent from 69,616 heads in 2021.Local milk production last year accounted for 5.07 percent of net supply totaling 597 million kilos, up 13.81 percent from only 524.54 million kilos in 2021.
Bulk of milk and dairy supply comes from imports reaching 595.64 million kilos in 2022, a 13.6 percent expansion from 523.95 million kilos in 2021.
In value terms, imports rose 37 percent from $1.2 billion to $1.64 billion or an increase in unit import cost of 23 percent in dollar terms.
The United States was the leading source of dairy products in 2022, accounting for 33 percent of the total dairy import bill, followed by New Zealand with 27 percent, Belgium with 6 percent and Australia with 4 percent.
Although not self-sufficient in milk and dairy products, the country nevertheless exported 28.92 million kilos in 2022, up 12.5 percent from 25.71 million kilos in 2021.
