Background
The Hinogacan Integrated Farmers Association (HINFA) formerly known as Hinogacan Rice Farmers Association with 35 members from Brgy. Hinogacan, Gandara, Samar are rice farmers who manually till their farm.
SAAD Samar together with the Municipal Agriculture Office of Gandara conducted an assessment based on the latter’s Municipal Social Worker and Development Office (MSWDO) Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) list where eleven (11) members of HINFA are included. Upon validation, the eleven members along with 5 other farmers association (FA) members also qualified to be beneficiaries of the SAAD FY 2020 Egg Layer Production project, through ready to lay (RTL), worth Php 973,100 (Table 1).
Egg Production
Prior to the distribution of the inputs, social preparation activities such as meetings, planning, validation, and profiling of the FA members were conducted by SAAD Samar. The activities conducted were made possible with the active participation of HINFA members led by its president, Mr. Manuel C. Parcon Sr.
During one of the meetings between SAAD and HINFA, it was concluded that the association needs to build a facility to house the Egg Layer Project as its counterpart for the interventions provided by the program.
The 16 members of HINFA pushed through with the implementation of the project and contributed Php 700 each for the materials used in the construction of the egg layer house.
Table 1. Egg Layer Production Project interventions received by HINFA
Egg Production and Income
Within eight months of operation, the capital build-up of the beneficiaries worth Php 700 each was reimbursed and they got their first dividends worth Php 2,000 each from the income generated from the egg sales.
Table 2. HINFA Egg Layer Production (2020-2022)
In May 2021, the association shared Php 6,000 earned from the egg layer sales to the marginal senior citizens in the community by giving packs of rice, instant noodles, sardines, half kilo of dressed chicken, and a pack of 3 in 1 coffee as one of the association’s activities in solidarity with the annual feast celebration of Barangay Hinogacan, Gandara, Samar.
In July 2021, ten months after the FA received the intervention, they were able to procure an additional 200 RTL chicken worth Php 90,000 using the income from the egg sales. The group also decided to construct a comfort room and multipurpose shed with an area of 24 square meters which serves as a meeting place and lounge area where on-duty officers are stationed. As of writing, the multipurpose shed is partially constructed and has a total cost of Php 37,000, still from the savings on egg sales.
Members of HINFA received another Php 1,500 dividends each in December 2021, an amount lower compared to their first dividends since the FA’s money was used in the procurement of feeds, additional RTLs, construction of additional cages, comfort room, and multipurpose shed. But this did not discourage the group and eventually made them more dedicated and persistent towards enriching the project entrusted to their care, as well as transparent in terms of financial recordings and transactions of the project.
Since HINFA was able to implement the project satisfactorily, the program provided an additional supply of 104 bags of layer feeds with a total cost of Php 197,600 on January 28, 2022, from the savings generated in FY 2021 to ensure that the FA has enough inputs to sustain the project.
On May 4, 2022, HINFA had their third-time dividends worth Php 8,000 each. Most of the members used the money to buy their needs for the annual fiesta celebration, pay their debts, and buy household items, while there are others who spent the money on smartphones for their children’s use in online classes.
Plans
Because of its location, Samar is one of the provinces frequently hit by strong typhoons throughout the year, making it challenging for associations like HINFA to house RTL chicken in facilities made of light materials. Before the year ends, the FA plans to construct a more suitable facility for the RTLs as they also plan to expand and buy an additional 300 RTLs to increase egg production and sales, and likewise cater to the demand of buyers in the municipality.
Truly, the famous Filipino saying “kung may tiyaga, may nilaga” is evident as the HINFA members step forward to bring to the table their worthy contributions and work together towards the betterment and success of their livelihood venture. ###
Writer: Jocelyn G. Torres, DA-SAAD Samar Area Coordinator
Photo courtesy of Joshua D. Parcon
