Goat raising program in Agusan del Sur boosts income of farmers, addresses meat supply woes
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| Arnel Granaderos, a foundation supervisor avers of how the lumads in La Paz and Loreto towns were financially rewarded when they engaged into goat-raising through AGP. |
PROSPERIDAD, AGUSAN DEL SUR – “I have been selling goats and its proceeds help me a lot send my children to school”, declares Alejandra Ranara, married and a farmer who is a recipient of the Agusan del Sur Goat Program (AGP) of Governor Adolph Edward “Eddiebong” Plaza.
“I was loaned five female and one male goats in 2009 through the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) and its number reached to as many as 30”, avers Ranara, a mother of four.
According to her, goats have a fast and short reproduction cycle.
“Goats give birth to either two or three kids in five-months time and that allowed me to pay back in no time at all”, she proudly said. She added that with her earnings, she was able to venture into farming of other crops which generated more income for her and her family.
Ranara raised the goats in a half-hectare pasture land in Barangay Azpetia in this town where she put up a feeding facility and shelter which are required as the equity of recipient goat raisers.
In an interview with Dr. Joriz Elevazo, the provincial veterinarian, he said the main goals of AGP when the provincial government came up with the program in 2006 are to help farmers raise their income and to increase the meat supply in the province in answer to the increasing consumption and demand of Agusanons.
Based on figures from PVO, Ranara is one of the close to 400 recipients of AGP. Seeing its viability, Governor Plaza is widening its scope to saturate all the 318 barangays of the province.
Other than individual goat raisers, institutions or groups became recipients of the program like the Friends Foundation Incorporated (FFI) of Barangay Lapinigan in San Francisco town.
“AGP has provided income to our indigenous peoples in La Paz and Loreto towns who have accessed livestocks through our foundation,” Arnel Granaderos, a FFI supervisor pointed out.
With their loan paid up, he said 27 other peoples’ organizations were given the head start to set up their own goat livelihood activities. Granaderos said they are grateful to the program because many have been financially rewarded and it is spreading out rapidly in the remote areas.
AGP was implemented during the second term of Governor Plaza with 40 pre-screened and qualified recipients of the initial 240 heads. A recipient gets five does (female) and one buck (male for breeding).
Highly-skilled technical PVO personnel supervise the program and assist the farmers in the field by providing them technology. Animal health programs on deworming, vaccination, vitamin administration, prophylactic and curative treatments were carried out. Technicians also assist farmers in improving pastureland to ensure the nutritional needs of the goats.
With the positive turn-out in its first year, PVO was able to disperse another 120 heads to 20 farmers in 2007 and in the following two years, more than 100 became beneficiaries of repayment offsprings.
And to further enhance the goat industry in the province, PVO introduced the Buck Loan Program (BLP) to ensure the steady supply of high-quality male goats used for breeding. Farmers can have access to bucks via a loan which they also need to pay back in due time with the offsprings they produce.
However, the goats used as repayment cannot cope up with the increasing number of loan applicants thus, the province established the Provincial Goat Multiplier Farm in Barangay Patin-ay, also of this town to hasten production of more quality breeder goats for loan to farmers.
These facilities have attracted the attention of many livestock farmers and groups in Caraga region that continue to flock and visit the province for benchmarking and replication in their respective localities.
With its continuing success, records from PVO indicate an increasing production of goats. From 87 metric tons in 2009, the inventory rose to 88 MT in 2010 and 89 MT in 2011.
As of now, the number of applicants of AGP at the PVO is constantly increasing with the office receiving an average of four and still counting per week who want to raise goats for a better future. (PPIO_AgSur)
-- Ric Domingo
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