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BY JULIO P. YAP JR.
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Enrichment of the native chicken industry
THE enrichment of the potentials of the native chicken industry in the country was showcased, among other exhibits, during the Davao Agri Trade Expo (DATE) through the Western Mindanao Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESMAARRDEC).
It was geared towards the development of the agriculture industry in Davao Region, the three-day event held from September 22 to 24 at the SMX SM Lanang Premier in Davao City.
DATE 2016 featured Mindanao’s golden crops and was packaged to cover the basic aspects of a successful agriculture extending beyond production to cover financing, processing, marketing, and even exporting.
Any Filipino gourmet will readily attest to native chicken’s fine qualities.
Its unique taste, flavour, and texture, and health benefits, makes it a fine choice for most consumers.
It is, therefore, not surprising if the demand for it, especially by institutional buyers, continues to increases.
With the vast potential of native chicken and its attending challenges, the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCAARRD-DOST) crafted the Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) for the native chicken.
The program primarily addresses two major challenges – the unstable supply of slaughter native chickens, and its high mortality rate.
It also looks into how they can be improved for the benefit ofrural farmers in Regions 5, 6, 7, and 9, which are known for their native chicken breed.
True-to-type breeding populations of Camarines in Bicol, Boholano in Bohol, and the Zampen native chicken inZamboanga Peninsula were developed under the program.
As initial foundation, some 200,000 heads of the breeder quality day-old chicks, and some 100,000 heads of quality day-old chicks for slaughter were also produced.
The purification process resulted in higher production performance in terms of age and weight, age at point of lay, eggs produced per hen, average egg weight, hatchability, plumage uniformity, and survival rate of breeder chickens.
Also developed under the program are the appropriate free-range management technologies for the most common native chicken farming systems in Bicol, Bohol, and Zamboanga, and a breeding and free-range production protocols for the four native chicken strains: Darag, Camarines, Boholano, and Zampen.
Information on pricing and marketing as well as on current policy support systems was also generated under the program for native chicken producers and policy makers.
With the development of ethnobotanical anthelmintics for gastro-intestinal parasitism, the program has also addressed the high cost of commercial veterinary anthelmintic and its unavailability in the countryside.
Local production of oil-emulsion Newcastle Disease (NCD) vaccines was also pursued under the program to control the annual NCD outbreaks that cause about 90 percent mortality in infected native chicken flock./PN
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