ANTIQUE – The town of Libertad here is seeking to become the province’s “balut making” center after the Department of Agriculture (DA) 6 turned over 1,800 heads of ducks to the members of Sitio San Juan Farmers Association in Barangay San Roque recently.
DA-6 Regional Executive Director Remelyn R. Recoter said that farmers in Northern Antique have sufficient source of poultry feeds, thus, Libertad became one of the pilot beneficiaries of the Itik Pinas project in the region.
“Manami ang inyo lugar diri, suitable for duck raising kay indi polluted ang tubig,” Recoter added.
Thirty farmers out of the 115 members of the farmers association were given 60 heads each.
DA Livestock Program Coordinator Glenn Mariano said the first batch of farmer-recipients shall return the same number of ducks to the association for the next in line beneficiaries.
Western Visayas allotted P1.2 million for the project this year.
The DA Livestock Program had also distributed 1,800 ducks recently to the members of Kilusang Pagbabago in Buenavista and Jordan towns in Guimaras.
Itik Pinas is a breeder strain developed through a joint research project of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, and the Bureau of Animal Industry’s National Swine and Poultry Research and Development Center in Tiaong, Quezon. (with a report from DA-RAFIS 6)/PN
