DA-10 thru the Livestock program monitors the different beneficiaries of its poultry and livestock projects under the Bayanihan funds to ensure its sustainability.

 

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – To ensure the efficacy of the agency’s programs funded under Bayanihan Act I and II, the Department of Agriculture – Northern Mindanao (DA-NorMin) has undertaken monitoring and evaluation of its poultry and cattle production projects in the region.

Implemented in March 2020, the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act (Republic Act No. 11469) is the country’s move to address the national emergency brought about by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

According to DA-10 Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado, under Bayanihan Act I, more than 600 qualified farmers from the different provinces in Northern Mindanao have received 6 heads of free-range chicken (1 male and 5 females) through the Expanded Livestock and Poultry Production and Livelihood Project for COVID-19 Response program; while 400 farmers from Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon and Misamis Occidental have also benefited from the department’s Cattle Feedlot Fattening Project (CFFP) under Bayanihan Act II.

Maria Lourdes M. Sypiecco, Livestock Program coordinator of DA-NorMin emphasized, that said activity was conducted in coordination with the local governments to ensure the sustainability of the project and further its expansion.

One of the recipients of DA’s free-range chicken, Mariesa I. Honculada, shared that the project has been beneficial for their family, especially at the height of the pandemic.

Honculada, a mother of six from barangay Soro-Soro, Mambajao, Camiguin, elaborated that the chicken has sustained their food source during the crisis.

“Nang dahil sa ibinigay ng DA-10 na free-range chicken naitataguyod ko ang aking pamilya sa gitna ng pandemya. May naipapakain ako sa aking mga anak, at nakakapagload para sa kanilang online class mula sa aking pagbebenta ng mga manok dito sa amin,” she said.

The Municipal Mayor of Catarman Kiterio Antonio U. Palarca II expressed his gratitude to DA-NorMin for the agri interventions to the farmers, not only in Catarman, but the entire province of Camiguin.

Palarca said that with the appropriate training for the farmers, and in partnership with DA and other national agencies and the LGUs, the produce of farmers will be further improved to become locally and eventually, globally competitive.

In Misamis Oriental, Sugbongcogon Municipal Agriculturist Johnny G. Sumaylo explained, that as recommended by RED Collado, they have modified DA’s CFFP into a semi-dispersal project, where each beneficiary will pass on its first heifer calf to the next beneficiary within the barangay.

Sumaylo confirmed, that the project has now started to progress as one heifer calf has already been passed on to another recipient, while others are currently pregnant.#(EMBentulan)