SULU, January 9, 2022 – To meet the growing community demand for eggs and minimize production expenses, 11 Sulu farmers’ associations (FAs) and beneficiaries of layer chicken egg production livelihood project of the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Program Region 9 received production inputs support to sustain and strengthen egg production.

Over the years, Sulu’s poultry supply has depended on imported products from Zamboanga City, Cagayan, and other parts of Mindanao. During seasons of celebration, the demand is high which pulls up egg prices in the local market. Considering this, SAAD Region 9 saw an opportunity to introduce a Layer Chicken Egg Production Project in the province to aid in local supply and market value. 

Currently, poultry production in Sulu has been successful and covers 6 municipalities in the province with 22 fully established community-based enterprises operating egg production facilities. 

The inputs provided are part of the SAAD’s Layer Chicken Egg Production project under FY 2022 worth Php 5,350,475, consisting of 65 modules (48 head of chicken/ module) or 3,120 RTL pullets with fabricated cages, and 744 bags of layer feed, distributed to 226 farmer-members coming from 6 covered municipalities of the program.

Table 1. Recipients of RTL Production in Sulu

The interventions aim to increase farmers’ income and produce a sufficient supply of eggs in the province, as well as to capacitate farmers in building up sustainable projects and improve their economic situation.

Since the SAAD Program’s inception in 2018, the Chicken Egg Production project in the province has significantly contributed to Sulu’s economic growth and development, making the province a self-sustaining community when it comes to egg supply. The egg machines supply fresh and affordable eggs to the province’s local communities. 

These SAAD-assisted egg production facilities in Sulu produce over 15,000 trays of eggs per month sold locally in the market, to military groups, and to individual buyers.

According to Mr. Ahajuli Ahajani, Barangay Chairperson of Kabbon Takas in Patikul who was present during the distribution of inputs, there is an inevitable price increase of poultry feeds and increasing demand for eggs in their community, thus the town experiences a shortage of egg supply.

“Sin angay in manga iklog, daing pa ha Zamboanga, sah bihaun awn na daing ha hula ta awn na pag itlugan manok kyatukbal sin SAAD kamu. Mataud in order kamu sin manga mamimi sah pasal sin pag taas sin pagkaun  manok, in association di na mag paka untong mataud.”

(Previously, we got our egg supply from Zamboanga City, but now, eggs are locally produced in our province, and we thank the SAAD Program for providing us with facilities to make egg production available here. Since then, we received a lot of orders from our customers, but due to the increase in the price of poultry feeds, the association was not able to gain higher profit.)

“In project ini malaggu in kiyatabang ha barangay namuh iban nahinang kiya guwah sin ngan sin barangay namuh para sumod pa in manga tatabangan daing ha dugaing-dugaing agency. Dii sadja ha November ini in Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) hinangan kami dan semento dii ha daing sin manok nag iklog , kiyatabang tuod ha pag kadto kari sin tau patabuh,” added Mr. Ahajani.

(The egg production project has been a great help to us, especially in our barangay which gained a lot of attention from other government agencies that also granted us assistance. Just this November, the DPWH completed the concreting of the road near us. It made our egg-machine project more accessible to the marketplace.)

Barangay Chairperson Ahjani also mentioned that the local government units (LGUs) and the military groups are enthusiastic and actively showing continuous support to the program by providing mobile transportation of inputs to the SAAD communities, including delivery of products to the market area.

On the other hand, according to Mr. Alkhartemar Sangkula, Area Coordinator in the municipality of Parang, the Laum Buwahan Farmers Association (LBFA) with 20 members is one of the first recipients of the egg machine project in Parang in 2021 that transformed into one of the major distributors of eggs in the municipality.

“The LBFA gained revenue of over Php 500,000 just a year in managing the project. However, due to the unexpected economic instability (inflation of poultry feeds) and molting of chicken, their egg production decreases,” said AC Sangkula.

“We provided them with an additional five (5) modules of RTL chicken and 55 bags of layer feed. With this, the FA is expecting to increase their egg production and gain more income from the project,” added Mr. Sangkula in response to the raised concern.

Meanwhile, Tiis Kasanyangan FA with 13 active members who showed responsible management of the project for four (4) years now, was also granted with 20 bags of layer feed and 3 modules of RTL chickens in hopes that the FAs’ members will continue to sustain the project for the next succeeding years.

The Tiis Kasanyangan FA is a recipient of the FY 2018 Layer Chicken Egg Production project. They are currently managing 336 chicken heads and have Php 62,580 cash on hand.

The Bakung FA with 15 members is a newly identified farmer-beneficiaries of SAAD for FY 2022. Initially, they received 5 modules of RTLs and 55 bags of layer feed. They are set to receive another 15 modules of RTL chicken this December along with other newly identified FAs in Patikul.

Over the years, the SAAD Program in Sulu has been coursed through the DA Region 9 Project Office. It has extensively supported the 6 municipalities since 2018 and provided livelihood opportunities to many of its beneficiaries. 

A total of 565 farmers from 22 FAs are benefiting from the layer chicken egg production project in the province, and with the active participation of their respective LGUs, the associations are well supported and the projects are carefully managed which resulted in the success of farmers’ respective livelihood and enterprises. In addition, locally sourced eggs are now visible in the province.

As the SAAD Program Phase 1 ends, the FAs will be turned over to their respective LGUs and other DA banner programs with Sulu graduating in the DA-SAAD Region 9 implementation. Moving forward, the program embraces new provinces such as Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga del Sur alongside Zamboanga del Norte for SAAD Phase 2 coverage starting 2023.  ###

Writer: Ellaine Quiamco, DA-SAAD Sulu Information Officer