The Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) is now planning to expand its program that will come up with superior breed of cows and goat similar to the "Super Buffalo".

This was the consensus arrived at during a closed-door meeting of the members of the PCC board of directors, which decided to so beyond its mandate of developing the carabao beyond what it is - a draft animal - and try to improve the cow and goat, as well.

Danilo Fausto, a member of the PCC board of directors representing Luzon farmers, told BusinessMirror that this year, the PCC will expand its research and development and will soon include cattle and goat in its programs.

During a closed-door meeting at the PCC in the Science City pf Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Fausto said members of the PCC board were congratulated by Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban for a job well done and had approved a proposal to expand the program, which will now cover cows and goats. "If we can do it with carabao, why can't we do it with cows and goat," he said.

Fausto said while the religious sector is against artificial insemination and cloning, he said such scientific breakthrough should not be interpreted as "interfering with the act of God".

"We are not making milk. We are only making the machine that makes milk," he said. "It is not interfering with the act of God," he said.

He said coming up with a superior breed of animals will help the poor generate income and improve their living conditions. At the Tarlac Agricultural College, animal researchers have already succeeded in producing superior breed of goats through artificial insemination.

This was what the PCC intends to do in the future to increase milk, as well as meat production. Most farmers raise cows and goats to generate extra income and the PPCC hopes that by including cattle and goat in their program, they can encourage farmers to go into dairy as well.

"The board is planning to include cows and goats in our program. Of course, it will take sometime but that was what the board has decided. The secretary [Panganiban] is okay with it," Fausto said.

The PCC was able to come up with artificially inseminated "Super Carabao" and will soon come up with the world's first-ever cloned buffalo next year which the institute is planning to produce and distribute to farmers as part of its program to strengthen the country's dairy industry.

The PCC has successfully trained at least 50 extension workers on how to do artificial insemination and distributed semen of the "Super Buffalo" as it expands its artificial insemination program and come up with "Super Buffalos" that produce 4 to 5 liters of milk everyday, as compared with the 1 to 3 liters of milk that the local carabao produces.