Better animal performance and farm productivity through action learning strategies
2008
Anon.
About 15 M Filipinos depend on goats for their livelihood. However, the wide variability in the production performance and product quality of goats in small holder farms hinder their sustainability as a livelihood resource. Major causes of these are low productivity of existing stocks and low adoption of improved goat production technologies/practices. To address these, Villar et al. (PCARRD) [Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines] involved farmer-partners of the project Rural Enterprise Development through Innovative Goat Production Systems from Brgy. [village] Abian, Bambang, Nueva Viscaya [Philippines] in identifying problems and selecting appropriate technologies to solve such problems. Hands-on training, demonstrations, and cross visits were used to bring across technological interventions on goat production and management. Conducted from Oct 2004 to Sept 2007, the project aimed to enhance goat production in the focal sites and improve profitability through the adoption of improved goat production technologies using action-learning strategies. To enhance market access of small holder goat producers, product quality was improved to match consumer preferences. Through the action learning strategies, the farmers adopted some of the introduced technologies such as improved housing, strategic deworming, improved feeding, and upgrading of stocks. This increased the growth rate of the animals and reduced goat mortality from as high as 60% during the initial stage of the project to 6% or decrease of 91% in just the first year. Succeeding years saw further decline in mortality by 88%. Number of stocks increased over time and quality improved. Sixty-seven Anglo-Nubian and Boer upgrades were produced and more kids are coming. The change in genetic quality definitely enhanced the income of the goat raisers, as these animals commanded higher prices. It was also noted that at the start of the project, goats, whether for slaughter or breeding, were at PhP 1,200-1,500/head. However, with the project, slaughter goats were sold on liveweight basis at PhP 120.00/kg or PhP 1,500-2,000 per animal or an increase if 25% in the pricing of slaughter animals. Breeder animals (upgrades) were sold for PhP 2,500-4,000/head at 6 months of age. A total number of 42 farmers adopted the interventions during the project period. One of the projects farmer-partners even became an awardee of the DA Gawad Saka for two consecutive years. As the quality of goats improved, farmers-partners were able to join the 2nd Cagayan Valley Goat and Sheep Expo, where a farmer-partner won first place in the Best Upgraded Buck and Best Upgraded Goat Categories. The project was instrumental in the formation of the SEC-registered Abian Goat Raisers Association (ABIGRA). Empowering farmers with the needed knowledge rebound to better animal performance and farm productivity. To date, farmer-partners are tapped as resource speakers and have become mentors to other goat raisers. ABIGRA members are now known in the locality as competent goat raisers and have improved access to LGU support. 'Abian goats' now demand a high price in the market and are now sought after by buyers from as far as Nueva Ecija. More improtantly, they have learned to elevate goat keeping into a viable livestock enterprise, investing a portion of their income to further improve their production.
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