THE Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) is expanding its livestock and poultry services by constructing an additional breeding farm in Barangay Cabadiangan, Himamaylan City.
Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said on Thursday that Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. has given the directive to further extend farm services by putting up another facility in a property acquired by the province from Benedicto family.
Decena said this will form part of the Capitol-run livestock farms such as the Negros First Ranch in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Murcia and Provincial Livestock Breeding Center and Dairy Farm in Barangay La Granja, La Carlota aside from the satellite multiplier farms in different local government units (LGUs) like Kabankalan, Sagay, and Calatrava, among others.
“The farm, which will house cattle, swine and poultry animals, will mainly cater to beneficiaries in Fifth and Sixth Districts of the province,” he said, adding that the development is targeted to start next year.
A team composed of personnel from the Provincial Planning and Development Office and Livestock Production Division of PVO is now conducting a physiology study.
After which, the province will prepare the funding proposal for the project.
Aside from further boosting the livestock and poultry industry, the project is also anchored on the Provincial Government’s food security agenda, Decena said.
The PVO chief added that food security program does not only concentrate on livestock as it has also other components like rice sufficiency, and productivity on other crops and fisheries.
Through this farm, the PVO will also work on integrated development which includes acclimatizing the animals in the area and ensuring sources of rice bran and indigenous grass for feeds, Decena added.
“We cannot attain our target to become rice self-sufficient if we cannot address other commodities thus, it has to be integrated development,” he further said.