A mother of two and wife of a farmer, Nerissa G. Gepitulan, from Linamon, Lanao del Norte (LDN) earned more than Php 39,000 from selling swine, a livelihood provided by the Department of Agriculture (DA) – Special Area Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program.
Mrs. Gepitulan is one of the 20 Rubocon Farmers Association members who are pioneering beneficiaries of the SAAD Program since 2019.
Before SAAD, Mrs. Gepitulan worked as a barangay health worker with an honorarium of Php 1,000 per month. Since the money she’s earning is not enough to feed her family, she farms with her husband to augment their meager income.
Mrs. Gepitulan was a recipient of two pigs, cacao seedlings, vegetable seeds, and garden tools. All part of the Php 66,717 worth of SAAD’s FY 2019 Integrated Agricultural Livelihood Project.Table 1. Mrs. Geputilan’s Project Interventions Received
|
Items |
Quantity | UOM | Unit Cost (Php) |
Project Cost |
| Pigs (gilts) |
2 |
head |
7,000 |
14,000 |
| Cacao Seedlings |
16 |
pieces |
35 |
560 |
| Vegetable Seeds |
3 |
pack |
130 |
130 |
| Garden Tools: Farm gloves Budding knife Light hoe Pruning shear Shovel Sprinkler Plastic drums Weeding bolo |
1 |
set |
4,153 |
4,153 |
| Garden House |
1 |
roll |
2,000 |
2,000 |
| Plastics Seedling Tray |
5 |
pieces |
120 |
600 |
| Vermicast |
7 |
bags |
550 |
3,850 |
| Hog Starter |
1.5 |
bags |
1,650 |
2,475 |
| Hog Grower |
4 |
bags |
1,600 |
6,400 |
| Hog Finisher |
2 |
bags |
1,550 |
3,100 |
| Total |
66,715 |
|||
Upon receiving the interventions, she raised the two piglets and planted the vegetables in her backyard (at an approximate area of 100 square meters.)
Key Results
When Mrs. Gepitulan received the two gilts (2.5 months old) on December 4, 2020, she decided to sell both in January 2021 since they are already marketable enough. Each pig weighs 70 kilograms (kg) which she sold at Php 140/kg in the market, giving her an income of Php 19,600.
She eventually bought two piglets, raised them, and sold them in April 2021 wherein she had the same revenue as last January.
Since artificial insemination takes a lot of work, she opted for the buy and sell method to sustain the livelihood. She said that the method is working since she is earning. At the end of August, she expects to market her third cycle of pigs.
Mrs. Gepitulan already has a regular buyer or “suki” in the market so selling is easy.
In total, Mrs. Gepitulan already sold four pigs weighing 70kg each at Php 140/kg or Php 39,200.
Aside from that, she has also started to harvest from her vegetables (eggplant, okra, squash, and string beans) for consumption. Occasionally when she has more production, she sells them in the market which recently gave her an income of Php 1,000.
Challenges and Solutions Made
Mrs. Gepitulan was no stranger when it came to the downside of raising hogs, especially when the African Swine Fever (ASF) affected Lanao Del Norte. Though there is zero case in their barangay, the threat for her pigs to be contaminated with the virus is high.
When her pigs got sick due to the weather, she would immediately call the Linamon Livestock Technician Jayson Arnoco.
Municipal Agriculturist (MAO) Irenila G. Obenza together with the Local Government Unit of Linamon has committed to help the beneficiaries by providing technical support even after they received the interventions to help them sustain the SAAD projects.
What to expect
The SAAD Program has already proposed meat processing training for those who received the Swine Production Project.
As for the municipality of Linamon, 30 beneficiaries including Mrs. Gepitulan expect the Training on Lowland Vegetable Gardening and Training on Meat Processing this August. ###
Writer: Ruth Esther Bermundo, SAAD Normin Information Officer
