Alvin Virtucio, chairman of The Rosario Livestock Agricultural Farming Cooperative (TRLAFCO) formerly known as Barangay Agricultural and Fisheries Council (BAFC) in Rosario, Batangas is one of the co-op leaders and carapreneurs who attested that there is an economic opportunity in dairying.

He said that they tried venturing into other agricultural product but it was never enough to sustain their cooperative. Their commodities are swine, rice, corn, coconut, and vegetables but they often lose profits due to the low values of these commodities in the market.

“The farm inputs are expensive but the selling value is very low. When we plant palay, it requires a lot of effort plus the price of fertilizer is costly. At the end, the farmer’s gain is little,” Alvin said. 

Through the initiative of DA-PCC at UPLB, TRLAFCO was introduced to dairy farming in 2013. The succeeding year, they started to produce and collect milk from their members. Alvin recalled that the price of each liter before was PHP40, but now they are buying it for PHP70 to PHP75 per liter.

According to Alvin, there is nothing difficult about taking care of buffaloes as long as you are diligent enough to wake up early to bathe and feed them. An individual should have the mindset that for every minute spent caring for a buffalo, there is a correspondingly high income.

In 2018, many BAFC members showed interest and engaged in buffalo dairying, thus, the council became a cooperative. The flow of the business was smooth not until the COVID-19 pandemic came. They were concerned about how they would continue the operation given the sudden lockdown and travel restrictions. 

Catherine Santiago, manager of the TRLAFCO, narrated the challenges that their cooperative went through. 

“Most of us were afraid to go out because our families might be infected with the virus. At the same time, we were worried how our cooperative can survive,” Catherine recalled. 

She reminisced about the time when theirs were the only vehicles running along EDSA during the lockdown to collect and deliver milk. Yet, she and her team remained dedicated to their work, believing that no dairy farmer should be left behind during such a difficult time. 

“I don’t know how we did it. We just kept on praying, and we always think about the welfare of the farmers,” Catherine said emotionally. 

Likewise, Alvin said that they draw inspiration from the fact that they are helping and giving livelihood opportunities to the locals of Rosario. Their only problem now is, “Who will continue their dairy business?”

“I hope we can pass it on to our children. Most of our members are of old age. We want to make the children aware that they don’t have to go far to find a job because the livelihood is right here in Rosario,” he said.

 
Today, they are committed to extending support to the community they serve by donating wheelchairs to PWDs and giving school supplies to children.

True to their hard work and dedication, they were hailed as Outstanding Dairy Buffalo Cooperative during the 8th National Carabao Conference. 

We cater different services in our co-op but we generate most of our sales from carabao’s milk. Our daily milk harvest ranges from 300 to 400 liters. Because of the significant progress that this enterprise proved, more people were enticed to join us.