Tags: Agribusiness, Livelihood Programs
By Anna Valmero
BAYAMBANG, PANGASINAN – Goat farms in Pangasinan and La Union are eyed to raise the country’s goat population by 80 percent and meet demands of the P13-billion specialty chevon meat industry.
Goat meat imports rose about five times from 155 heads in 2001 to 1,330 heads in 2005. Imports come from the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
Under the project called Innovative Goat Production System (IGPS), pilot farms in the two provinces aim to produce superior goat breeds through cross-breeding the Philippine Native goat with Anglo Nubian and Boer breeds.
“Goat raising is considered a rural growth booster. It deserves a top priority to intensify and build up farmers’ living asset,” says Dr. Jovita M. Datuin, Department of Agriculture regional field unit manager.
The project could boost the national goat inventory, presently at 3.3 million heads. This is because the superior breed reproduces more offsprings, produces more milk and fattens faster that allows for earlier slaughter.
The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, Natural Resources Research and Development, with the help of local government units, has invested P11.5 million for the breeder stocks and also funded the construction of P3.5 million worth of goat houses and forage gardens.
So far, the project gave jobs to 461 farm families or goat entrepreneurs in the towns of Bacnotan, San Juan and Bauang in La Union province and Balungao, Bayambang, and Bautista towns of Pangasinan.
Previously, farmers need to wait for six months to sell their goats but now, they can sell their herd at four months so a farm with 20 goats and have a total monthly income of P141,584 from P71,560.
“Goat production is already a successful poverty alleviation program. We just need to upgrade our systems so that it will become truly grounded as an enterprise among small farmers,” said Bureau of Agriculture Research (BAR) director Nicomedes P. Eleazar.
Through the project, farmers learned health and disease management including deworming that reduces mortality and saves farmers annual loses amounting to P142 million due to pneumonia, diarrhea and parasites. They also learned the importance of food supplementation through legumes and vitamins.
Urea-molasses multinutrient block (UMMB) are also added in the goat feeds as a source of degradable nitrogen to promote rumen microbes for goat’s digestion.
Farmer centers and trading posts were opened in Tubao and Pugo act as stable price references for goat sales and to protect farmers from lower prices.
Goats are now sold from P2,500 to P4,000 per head—a significant price increase by 150 percent from previous prices of P1,000 to P1,500 per head. This raises the price of the local goat industry toP13.2 billion.
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