Cordillera youth urged to venture in agriculture

TWelve youth recipients of the Department of Agriculture (DA)’S egg Production Project in Cordillera urge fellow youth in the region to engage in agripreneurship.

Recipients namely Aldrin Joseph Recare and Mac Gyver Timbreza from Abra; Danica Alican, Berting Pataras, Judy May Pucdo, and Razel Arciso from Benguet; Janice lee Bilalay and John Glenn Dulnuan from Ifugao, Charlen Bawalan and Billy Nera from Kalinga and; George Peckley III and Ivy Krizzel Aowes from Mt. Province were provided with the poultry project worth P94,525.00 which includes 100 heads layer chicken, 12.5 bags of layer feeds, a drum, and a set of modular layer cage.

The project aims to provide an additional source of income for families with college students who are taking up agriculture and other related courses through egg production enterprise.

Danica Alican, one of the youth recipients and recently graduated college with bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Benguet State University, urges her fellow youth to invest in agriculture.

According to Alican, through the project, she was able to apply what she learned about animal science, it provided her hands-on experience on poultry production and marketing, and she gained income that sustained her family’s financial needs and helped pay her college expenses.

Moreover, she earned an income of P48,000 in a year out that she invested in hog raising and she plans to make the egg production as her sustainable business and to empower other agripreneur youth by sharing her experiences and skills.

For Alican, agriculture is not only about learning crops or animals but it can open up a lot of business opportunities. Thus, she encourages the youth to invest in agriculture.

Meanwhile, Dr. George Peckley III, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and another recipient, joins the same call of encouraging the youth to engage in agriculture because of its benefits in securing food in the country.

Peckley added that the project gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his knowledge and experience in production and marketing of eggs, provided him extra income, and helped him pay his school expenses.

He said the project became his additional source of income amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Peckley said he plans to expand the poultry project by getting additional layer chicken and cages to sustain the egg production in their municipality.