If you ask a Filipino to describe what a farmer looks like, don’t be surprised if carabao is almost always being mentioned too. The two are partners when it comes to farming. The carabao is the farmer’s beast of burden, pulling the plow and harrow and hauling farm produce when market time comes.
But despite its agricultural importance, carabao has been forced out from the farm by mechanized farming. “Time will come when most farmers operations in the Philippines will be done by machines,” deplores Roy C. Alimoane, the director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC) Foundation, Inc.
Some experts believe that carabao may soon join the country’s endangered list. A breed is considered endangered if “the overall population is close to, but slightly above 1,000 and decreasing,” according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Although the numbers of carabaos is not yet less than 1,000 yet, their number is decreasing fast. In 1973, there were around five million carabaos in the Philippines. Today, the country is home to only about 3.32 million carabaos.
Most of the surviving carabaos, raised mostly in the backyard farms, can be found in the provinces of Cagayan, Sultan Kudarat, Isabela, Zamboanga del Sur, and Iloilo . “Unless we do something now, we might wake up one day an agricultural country without a carabao to speak of,” a farming expert warned.
Indiscriminate slaughter has been cited as one of the primary reasons for the rapid disappearance of carabaos. “Our carabaos do not reproduce as fast as we slaughter them,” says Dr. Libertado C. Cruz, one of the country’s foremost animal scientists. “If we allow this trend to continue, our carabao population will soon be practically eliminated.”
To save the carabaos from vanishing in this part of the world, Executive Order 626 – which bans the massive slaughter of carabaos – was enacted. Under this EO, butchering before the males are seven years old, and females, 11 years old, is penalized. “Unfortunately, this law is often violated,” someone observed.
The carabaos are believed to have been introduced by the Chinese as work animals in the Philippines sometime between 300 to 200 B.C. When the Spaniards came to the country, they found that the carabaos were already used to cultivate rice fields.
The Philippine carabao is just one of the many breeds of the water buffalo. Actually, there are two types of water buffaloes: the river and the swamp types. The river type is exemplified by the Indian and sub-continent breeds. It is considered under the dairy category because it possesses high genetic capacity for milk production.
On the other hand, the swamp type – to which the Philippine carabao belongs – is distinguished by its preference for swamps or marshlands. This type of buffalo is primarily utilized for farm work.
In the Philippines , the carabao is put to continuous work from the age of four years up to 15 years or beyond. Some studies have shown that three females can perform the work of two male carabaos. As a draft animal, the carabao is most remarkable. It pulls plows, harrows, and carts with loads of several tons, forging through mud up to its belly.
“For centuries, the carabao has been equated with field plowing and load carrying,” wrote Anna Marie Alo in an article which appeared in The PCARRD Monitor. “Because they have been used as draft animals for more than a millennium now, they evolved with exceptional muscles, befitting the title, beast of burden.”
Until recently, little regard was given to the animal’s potential for milk production.
What most Filipinos don’t know is that carabao’s milk is touted to be the “most complete food.” The reason: it contains protein, fat, lactose, vitamins and minerals, and water. In addition, carabao’s milk is richer and creamier compared to cow’s and goat’s milk due to its high percentage of milk fat which is a good source of energy.
There’s more to carabao’s milk. Nutritionists claim it contains riboflavin or vitamin B2 needed for normal growth, agent against skin swelling, inflammation of the lining of mouth and tongue, and dizziness. Its vitamin A content is good for clearing eyesight while the vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus are valuable for strong teeth and bones.
“The water buffalo milk is considered the finest among dairy animal milk,” said Dr. Cruz.
Carabao’s milk can also be processed into chocolate-flavored milk, pastilles de leche (milk candy), kesong puti (white cheese), milk-o-jel, condensed milk, cheese spread, ice cream, mozzarella, or rennet (coagulated milk).
The carabao also offers big opportunities for the meat industry. In South American countries like Argentina , Brazil , Colombia and Venezuela , the demand for “carabeef” (carabao meat) is growing. This current demand of carabeef is due to the recent studies which show that buffaloes are the better source of quality meat than cattle.
Based on data released by the United States Department of Agriculture, carabeef has 41% less cholesterol, 92% less fat and 56% fewer calories than beef. Recent studies regarding the chemical composition of carabeef show that fresh carabeef obtained higher crude protein than pork and beef.
“Ground carabeef has an exquisite flavor and texture,” said a fact sheet disseminated by the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC). “ Buffalo meat is tender. It has little or no marbling or outside fat, so only a small amount of juice is lost when it is cooked.”
Another good thing about carabeef: the meat is produced with fewer hormones or antibiotics. “Carabaos are not raised in mass and are not fed in feedlot such as that done in cattle. Carabaos are raised mainly out of nature’s fodder and grain,” PCC explains.
Carabao is equally important for its hide. Filipinos consume a lot of chicharon made of carabao hide, kare-kare, which is partly skin of the animal, and a favorite pulutan, softened thin slices of hide spiced heavily with ginger, onion and red pepper.
Carabao manure is also of economic importance. It’s a good organic fertilizer, containing 18.5 % nitrogen, 43.7 % phosphoric acid, and 9.6 % potash. It’s also a good source of fuel either as dried dung, or in generating biogas or methane. When mixed with clay, the dung serves as building material or as plaster on the ground where palay is threshed. — ###
