LAUA-AN, ANTIQUE, September 1, 2020 – Three-hundred native chickens were distributed to five farmers’ associations (FAs) by the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program.

The Native Chicken Production Project amounting to Php 210,000.00 will help the livelihood of FAs of Latazon Tigunhao Guiamon (36 members), Ratanila Cluster Level Association (77 members), Lactudan (33 members), Lupa-an (40 members), and Necesito (47 members). Each FA received 60 native chicken breeder stocks. An additional 300 chickens will be dispersed within September 2020.

“We are very thankful to the DA for choosing our town as one of the pilot beneficiaries of SAAD projects. Laua-an is considered as one of the deprived areas for government projects. But now, with SAAD interventions, the livestock, poultry farmers, and also the women and persons with disabilities are assisted especially that most of them have lost their livelihood due to pandemic,” said Arjun Garcinela, Laua-an municipal agricultural officer.

Garcinela added that their local agri office will provide the necessary technical support to the farmer-beneficiaries of the project.

“We are encouraging our farmers to immediately report disease incidents or mortalities of native chicken, and to get their stocks insured with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation,” he said.

On the other hand, Ratanila FA president Marcelina Labanon expressed her gratefulness to the DA-SAAD for the livelihood projects including the provision of farm hand tractor and thresher, rice, and corn seeds, as well as the goat project granted to their association in 2019.

“Ginahalongan guid namon ang proyekto nga halin sa SAAD kay bahul-bahol guid ang bulig ka diya tulad nga may pandemic. Tinguhaan namon nga mapadamo pa guid ang ginatugro sang DA-SAAD para makaambit man ang iban nga miyembro sang amon asosasyon,” Labanon said.

The province of Antique is one of the priority provinces of SAAD in 2019. With an 18.4% poverty incidence rate among families, the province’s poorest towns became eligible to avail of the different interventions from seeds and fertilizers to farm machinery, poultry, and livestock animals.###

Writer:

Sheila Mae Toreno/ DA- RFO 6, Rafis

Jemiema Arro, SAAD – NPMO, Public Relation and Communication Officer