DavOr to develop livestock, poultry
WITH their first ever Livestock and Poultry Festival, the provincial government of Davao Oriental targets to develop commercial-scale production for both livestock and poultry in their province.
The 1st Livestock and Poultry Festival of Davao Oriental is scheduled to coincide and be one of the highlight activities of the 51st Foundation Anniversary of the province.
"We have to do this because the governance of the governor is geared towards addressing poverty and this can be done through the focusing on the development industries we have. Right now, our development industries really are the livestock and poultry," said Provincial Governor's Office of Davao Oriental Chief of Staff Ednar Dayanghirang.
He said they see an opportunity in the devlopment of the industries as, currently, about 90% of the eggs consumed by the people of Davao Oriental are coming outside of the province while only 10% are locally produced. Dayanghirang said they see an opportunity for expansion of the industry.
As for the livestock, he said they have just recently given out 250 goats to the members of the Muslim community. The goats will serve as a business enterprise capital of the 50 families that will benefit.
During the 1st Livestock and Poultry Festival on June 22, experts on the field from Manila and Davao City will be invited to give lectures to the animals growers who will participate. The experts are expected to give out tips and lessons on how to grow livestock and poultry animals in a commercial scale.
Businessmen and farm animal growers hailing from Banay-banay to Boston will also be invited as well. Dayanghirang said they are encouraging businessmen to invest in commercial-scale animal production as it would generate more employment and provide cheaper food for the people.
"Although we will continue to support the backyard animal growers, we have decided to also give focus now on commercial growing of farm animals. While backyard helps the economy grow, we see that with commercial scale, the growth is much faster," said Dayanghirang.
He added they will still continue observing the national rule of thumb that 70 percent of the farm animals should still be grown in a backyard scale and only 30 percent for the commercial scale.