Carabao Industry

The carabao industry has yet to achieve its "take-off stage" Like cattle the main concerns is the desclining trend in population brought about by low productivity and high extraction/slaughter rates of the animals. Presently, the country is 81% sufficient in carabeef.

Carabao is an important sources of draft power, meat and milk. Majority of the carabao population is raised in backyard farm. Carabao inventory in 1990 was 2.77 million heads. This increased slightly to 2.84 million heads in 1990. The average annual growth rate from 1990 to 1996 was 0.5%.

From 1990 to 1996, animal holdings on backyard farms constituted about 99.8%, while the commercial sector had a minimal share of only 0.2%. Backyard raisers maintain 1 to 3 heads of carabao for draft that are eventually sold for meat when it becomes old. Carabeef production became a source of additional income for the farmers. Carabao population growth rate for the backyard and commercial sector during the period 1990 to 1996 was 0.5% and 2.8% respectively.

Carabao production in 1996 was 99,000 metric tons valued at 3.2 billion pesos at current price. This was lower compared to the 1990 production which had 107,000 metric tons valued at 2.2 billion pesos. Carabao production had a negative 1.2% growth rate during the period 1990 to 1996.

In 1990, carabeef production was 51.178 metric tons. This was 100% of the total domestic supply of the country. In 1996, carabeef production grew to 57,467 metric tons. However, this was only 70.7% of the domestic supply. The growth rate of carabeef production for the period 1990 to 1996 was 2.3%

Baackyard carabao farms are generally located in Region II, IV, V and VI with 38.7% of the total backyard carabao inventory. On the other hand, commercial carabao farms are found in Region V, CAR, III and VIII. These regions has 63.5% of the total carabao inventory of the commercial farms.

Source: E.P. Supangco, A.J.A. Quilloy & E.E. Supangco