FOR a counterpart fund of P2.7M comprising the salaries and wages of the facility personnel and some equipment, Bohol could nail a toehold in the region’s supply for chicken meat as plans to put up a native chicken hatchery, processing plant with complete equipment and a marketing hub facility gains a step this week.
For that counterpart fund, the government’s Department of Agriculture (DA) is putting up P11M to implement its livestock banner program in the region, according to Dr. Stella Marie Lapis.
Dr. Lapiz. Bohol’s Provincial veterinarian, said the DA’s overall plan to increase farmer’s productivity ensuring food safety and sufficiency in the region will have to mean setting up of proper support services that would motivate these farmers into the project by more income and assured sustainability of the native chicken industry.
It may be recalled that the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian has put up a Native Chicken Multiplier Facility as a base for its feasibility study on the viability of native chicken for livelihood.
The study also did extensive documentation on its native chicken contract growing program implemented by the Bohol Upland Farmer’s Cooperative Incorporated.
The initiative proved feasible and could play a major role in Bohol’s bid to make native chicken easily accessible especially when tourists also tend to consume the more delectable native chicken meat over the commercially grown meat.
For this, Governor Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado has indorsed to the Provincial legislative body the letter from the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian (OPV) regarding the request for a Memorandum of Agreement between the Provincial Government of Bohol and the Department of Agriculture, formalizing the establishment of “Native Chicken Hatchery, Processing plant with equipment and Marketing Hub Facility” project.
The OPV said DA-7 is allocating P11 M to the Provincial Government of Bohol through its office for the establishment of a production house and hatchery with post hatchery care enough to produce hardened chicks and chicken for meat.
Aside from potential source of farmer’s additional livelihood, the facility would also be a model farm for other farmers who would be into native chicken production, and for institutional purposes.
On the other hand, the Provincial Government’s counterpart funding as stated in the MOA with the DA gets to fund for personnel services, utilities and equipment.
In fact, the Provincial Veterinarian said Bohol’s counterpart is already incorporated in the regular annual budget of the OPV under its Native Chicken Program which it implemented in its model farms.
Dr Lapiz added that the project will have 2 major components: the hatchery component as an institutional facility, and the processing and marketing enterprise component.
The hatchery which will be established at the Provincial Livestock and Poultry Farm in Bilar would be managed and operated by the OPV, while the processing and marketing enterprise component would be handled by a pre-qualified proponent group wityh over 200 members: the Ubay Native Chicken Growers Association.
On this, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Agriculture led by Vice Governor Victor Dionisio Balite has, in its committee meeting last week, recommended for the passage of a resolution granting authority to the governor to represent the provincial government of Bohol and sign the MOA between the DA-7 relative to the Implementation of the project. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
