Continuing its agricultural support three years since its Phase 2 implementation, the Department of Agriculture – Special Area for Agricultural Development (DA-SAAD) Caraga delivered 3,408 head of Ready-to-Lay (RTL) chickens under the FY 2026 support to SAAD Farmers’ Associations (FAs) in the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, and in Agusan del Norte.
Egg production has emerged as one of the more sustainable livelihood enterprises among SAAD-assisted FAs in Phase 2 that provides a sustainable income source that supports their agricultural enterprises.
The additional Php 4.7-million worth of Ready-to-Lay (RTL) chickens are intended to increase production capacity and strengthen egg enterprises to meet the rising egg demand in the local community. Also, The new batches of RTL chickens aim to replenish the batches that were up for culling to sustain the groups’ egg deliveries.
Prior to the delivery of the RTL chickens, the FAs expanded their poultry houses to accommodate and provide a suitable environment to support the healthy growth of chickens and egg productivity.
The high demand from the community enables the FAs to generate sufficient income to support the association and allows them to realize their plans for new business ventures.
Fresh eggs being a convenient and easy-to-prepare meal providing essential protein and nutrients needed for students’ growth and development, makes it easy to sell and patronized local communities specially for households with students and bulk orders for sari-sari stores.
While for abaca-producing FAs, income from egg sales also provides a steady source of earnings while they await the harvest of their abaca plantations.
For island farmers, Mercedita F. Soriano, NAGMAMANA Chairperson, and Adelfa Navidas, Chairperson, Malinao Poultry Raisers Association (MAPORA) the additional inputs present both an opportunity and a challenge for the association. While the new chickens will increase production, they also require additional care before they can start laying eggs. With increased production, the association must also expand its market to accommodate the additional supply.
“Dako kaayo among pasalamat sa bag-ong manok nga among nadawat nga natabok dinhi sa isla nga naa sa maayong kondisyon. Kini makadugang sa among produksyon sa itlog puhon ug aron mas makapalapad mi sa among pag pamaligya. Apan usa usab kini ka bag-ong hagit sa among asosasyon, ug kinahanglan namong magamit ang among mga kasinatian kaniadto sa pagdumala sa unang delivery aron mas maayong maatiman ang mga bag-ong manok aron mas malikay sa pagkamatay sa mga manok,” Soriano shared.
(We are very grateful for the new chickens we received, which successfully arrived on the island in good condition. These will help increase our egg production in the future and provide us with an opportunity to expand our market. However, this also presents a new challenge for our association. We need to apply the lessons we learned from managing the first delivery to ensure that the new chickens are properly cared for and to minimize losses.)
“Una sa tanan, dako kaayo among pasalamat sa mga bag-ong na deliver. Among kugihon nga mas molambo ang among produksyon ug mas makatigom pami sa among savings. Paningkamotan usab namo nga wala nay makalas nga mga manok karon, sa pag apply sa among mga nakat-onan ug mga kasinatian sukad sa pagsugod sa among egg production,” Navidas said.
(First of all, we are very grateful for the newly delivered chickens. We will work hard to improve our production and increase our savings. We will also do our best to prevent any further losses by applying what we have learned and the experiences we have gained since we started our egg production)
SAAD Program continues to support Farmers’ Associations (FAs) in Caraga not only through capacity-building and skills development but also by providing appropriate livelihood inputs, including livestock, enabling beneficiaries to directly apply the knowledge and skills gained from various training in managing their livelihood enterprises.
