IT WAS during the third staging of his “Byaheng Bukid” visit to the Cordillera, in 2016, when Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol first discussed the need to promote backyard livestock production, particularly the growing of ducks and free-range chicken (FRC) for meat and eggs that a local farm family needs.
In his visit to Amlao, Tabuk, Kalinga, a barangay that the good Secretary visited to monitor the progress of an on-going multi-million farm-to-market road (FMR), Secretary Piñol was particularly concerned that even farmers and their families in the countryside today would rather buy poultry meat and egg products in the market than produce these products themselves.
At that time, I have to admit that I could hardly relate to this advocacy. It takes time, effort, and resources to grow chicken and also to wait for the eggs that a layer would produce. You can buy chicken parts - all wings, legs, breast – depending on the parts of a chicken most preferred by you instantly at the grocery store. Eggs, there is no problem there too, they are now available in a variety of colors – light brown, dark brown, white, bluish-white, white-pink, etc.
It is like confronting the same argument I heard decades ago on why farmers would rather sell or convert their farmlands to other uses than farming. By selling their farms, they can become millionaires in their lifetime. By continuing to farm, they remain poor. They will continue to endure the realities of life at the losing end, day in and day out of their “miserable” existence.
Itik (Philippine mallard duck with the acronym PMD) and free-range chicken (FRC) raising anyone?
The DA is strongly recommending backyard livestock production, particularly PMD and FRC for reasons that have quite been overlooked and more so for the reason of surviving the current climate change leading to food shortages, rising food prices and more importantly, for health reasons.
During the conduct of the “Back to Basics, Scientific and Sustainable Livestock and Poultry Development Seminar,” Benguet Governor Cresencio Pacalso was all praises about the idea of promoting backyard livestock production in the highlands of the Cordillera. “Most Cordillerans,” he said, “are livestock raisers in their backyards. The venture serves as a ready source of food and income for the family. It is also done to provide live animals to be used during rituals and festivals.”
Encouraging and supporting our farm families to produce PMD and FRC meat and eggs will enhance their capacities to sustain the health and well-being of their families and also to perform their roles in their communities with their distinct cultural identities, he said.
Governor Pacalso participated in the seminar along with 303 participants, of whom, 283 are local farmers. The rest are farmers from Kalinga and Apayao, LGU officials, and DA and ATI officials.
“It is a good source of quality food - a ready source of fresh, tasty free-range eggs, and organic meat for the family.”
On the part of the farmer-participants to the seminar, that is one of the best testimony I heard about backyard livestock production last week.
The seminar is being spearheaded by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in coordination with the Department of Agriculture-CAR, local government units (LGU0 and Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU).
The seminar reaches out and trains interested smallholder farmers in marginal communities as beneficiaries of starter flocks of FRC and itik to grow and multiply as a source of meat and eggs for home consumption.
The beneficiaries will continue to be monitored and mentored at the community level by LGU technicians until they are able to produce the same number of flocks that they received to be dispersed or given to other interested farmers in the locality.
The program was developed by the ATI-International Center on Pig Husbandry (ITCPH) under auspices of the National Livestock Program (NLP) in partnership with the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) National Swine and Poultry Research and Development Center (NSPRDC) and state universities and colleges (SUCs), particularly Tarlac Agricultural University (TAU). It promotes a science-based and sustainable production of free-range chicken and mallard ducks – from breeds to marketing, according to Dr. Ruth S. Miclat-Sonaco, Center Director, ATI-ITCPH, and ATI National Focal Person, NLP.
Who wouldn’t chose fresh and organic range chicken meat and eggs as food, provided all year round from the backyard, asked Dr. Cristel Joy Isla of TAU. She represented Dr. Ma Asuncion Beltran as a lecturer on FRC production.
Backyard FRC production is very manageable and indeed, it allows total control over the quality of food produced. You cannot be so sure of what is out there. Take advantage of that, Dr. Isla encouraged her listeners.
In the countryside, farmers grow all kinds of livestock as a common trend in most households. Basically, almost all farm households keep one type of animal for subsistence and chicken is the commonest of them. The practice of raising chickens in the backyard holds tremendous benefits beyond the obvious.
The other benefits that can be drawn out from the care of FRC in the backyard are physical and mental exercises for the household, maximizing the use of space for productive use, supplements family budget, and entertainment, fulfillment, and creativity.
FRC production is also a source of manure as fertilizer for vegetables, helps eliminate food wastes, helps in pest control since they eat lots of insects, provide a learning opportunity for children and contributes to good health and long life (oxytocin).
While growing and caring for FRC for meat and egg purposes in the backyard is quite simple, it is still important for farmers to know how to do it in a scientific manner that would ensure greater success.
During the seminar session, Dr. Isla walked through the technology being promoted by the program with the farmer-participants, looking at the Characteristics of Backyard and Commercial Production; the Main Characteristics of FRC Production; the Advantages of FRC Eggs; the Five important Requirements of FRC Production; Caring and Growing FRC; Housing for FRC; Feeders and Waterers; Breeds and Selection; Understanding the Characteristics of Day Old Chicks (DOC), Growers and Pullets, Laying Birds, Cockerels/Cocks; FRC Breeds in the Philippines and their Dominant Characteristics; Crossbreeds; Commercial Layer Strains; Brooding; Growing and Management of Day Old Chicks; Lighting and Feeding; Commercial, Add-On, and Alternative Feeds; among other growing tips.
In summary, the lecture by Dr. Isla tells us that the appropriate technology for growing range chicken in the Philippines has been developed for our local farmers. Some of the best and popular FRC breeds in the world are also available in the country including crossbreeds. The DA has also packaged a program that would enhance and ensure the sustainability of duck and FRC production, 50 percent of which is in the hands of smallholder farmers and backyard raisers. The challenge now rests in the hands of our agricultural extension and farmers to make the job or hobby profitable and an exciting one at that.