PLGU Bukidnon wins as the Best AI implementor province awarded during the UNIAP forum.

 

MALAYBALAY CITY, BUKIDNON – The Department of Agriculture – Regional Field Office 10 (DA-10), through the Livestock Program, honors the top performing province and technicians of Artificial Insemination (AI) during the Unified Artificial Insemination Program (UNAIP) forum held on February 16 at the Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex (NMACLRC), this city.

Emerging as the winner for Best AI implementor province among the five provinces in Northern Mindanao is Bukidnon.

Johnson C. Petalcurin, DA-10 Regional AI Coordinator explained that the winner was selected based on the number of calves dropped and animals inseminated for the population of breedable animals in a province.

Among other factors considered, he added, is the number of UNAIP-related activities conducted such as meetings, heat synchronization, paraphernalia distribution, information dissemination, and activation of AI technicians.

DA-10 Regional Technical Director for Operations Carlota S. Madriaga commended Bukidnon and the other provinces for advocating AI in their respective areas.

She also assured the technicians that the department, through the leadership of DA-10 Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado, will fully support the livestock industry in the region.

Meanwhile, outstanding AI technicians were also named during the event for the Most Number of Animals Inseminated and Calf Drop categories.

Nix D. Melendez, AI technician of Quezon, Bukidnon, who recently retired from government service, bagged the first place for both categories with a record of 591 animals inseminated and 86 calves dropped.

Coming in second place for the calf drop category is Francis Ray B. Ditona of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon with 67 calves.

Alejandro C. Bag-ao of Libona, Bukidnon also won the third place for both categories with 219 animals inseminated and 66 calves dropped.

AI technician of the Provincial Veterinary Office of Camiguin, Cristopher Jiss C. Tabor, who inseminated 218 animals and won the second place for the said category, citing that AI is important for the province amid challenges on the limited number of bulls and the declining number of livestock head.

“With AI, we can increase the number [of heads], and help our farmers earn more. I’ve been told by some of my clients that they were able to send their kids to school because of their income by selling their cattle and that was possible because of AI. Indeed, AI is a great program that needs to be supported because of its impact, not just to the technicians, but to the farmers who need it as well,” Tabor added.

After the awarding, the Livestock program also distributed various AI paraphernalia worth P277,872 to AI technicians and AI coordinators, which included 108 bottles of lubricant, 101 packs of straw sheath, 4 boxes of arm length gloves, and 159 packs of drugs and biologics.

The UNAIP forum was participated by AI technicians from the different municipalities in the region and provincial AI coordinators of Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, and Misamis Oriental.

Gracing the activity are DA-10 Field Operations Division Chief Luz I. Guzman, PhD, chiefs and representatives of the DA-10 Provincial Operations Centers and DA-10 research stations, and DA-10 Livestock Program staff headed by their focal person, Jamaica L. Docdoc # (CRS)