MARAWI CITY, LANAO DEL SUR, March 22, 2021 – Two months after receiving the Php 699,833 worth of ready-to-lay chicken from the Department of Agriculture-Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program on January 18, 2021, the As-Salaam Farmers Group of East Calocan earned Php 35,700 from selling 6,487 eggs.
The price of eggs per tray varies from its sizes – pewee (Php 150), small (Php 160), medium (Php 170), and large (Php 180).
As of March 22, the 1,262 layer chickens produced 40 trays of pewee, 55 trays of small, 63 trays of medium, and 57 trays of large in a period of 63 days.
The group with 25 members agreed to put the chicken in a communal farm and take turns in taking care of them instead of rearing the poultry individually at home.
According to group member Casmina Lomondot, they faced challenges during their first week since they had little knowledge in raising a layer chicken farm.
With their eagerness to learn to sustain the farm and make a profitable living out of it, they strengthened their coordination with the City Agriculture’s Office.
Ms. Anifa Busara from the City Agriculture Office spearheaded the close monitoring of the project granted by SAAD.
“As I told them (beneficiaries) before, always take care of the projects the government is giving you. I can see that the chicken has made a great impact in East Calocan. The beneficiaries are passionate in managing the project. I also encouraged them to think long term because it has the potential to grow more,” said Anifa.
Training on Poultry Production
The President of As-Salaam Farmers Group of East Calocan as well as 20 other Meranaw leaders, who previously received the chicken were also trained on poultry production from March 17 to 18.
The training is essential to ensure farmers readiness in managing the project provided by the program.
Department of Agriculture’s Veterinarian Dr. Kenneth Polina discussed the importance of giving the right amount of feeds and light needed per day. He also emphasized the importance of good cultural management in order to sustain the production of eggs.
“It’s important that these beneficiaries will learn the basic knowledge in raising a layer farm because they can get the most out of it. These farmers have the heart to learn about the intervention and we are willing to help them the best way we can so that they will not lose interest in it,” Dr. Polina said.
Casmina then shared that they are thankful for the acquired knowledge and became more eager to raise the layer farm and apply the practices learned from the training.
“Ngayon ko palang nalaman na meron palang paraan para maka save kami ng feeds. Kasi yun yung number one problem namin, madali kaming maubusan at malayo pa yung pagbibilhan. Malaking tulong to samin kasi noon, tina-tansya lang po namin yung binibigay, pero ngayon marunong na kami kung gano na karami,” said Ms. Lomondot.
“It is only now that I learned that there are ways on how we can save on feeds. It is our number one problem since we ran out easily and the market is far. This is a big help because before we just estimate the amount of feeds we give to the chickens, at least now, we know how much we will give to them.” ###
Writer: Ruth Esther Bermundo, SAAD Region 10 Information Officer
Copy Editor: Jennifer Valcobero, SAAD NPMO Public Relation and Comms Officer
