Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte– Siayan avails enterprise support from the Department of Agriculture Philippine Rural Development Project (DA-PRDP) to improve and support the swine production in the province.

According to 2018 Philippine Statistic Authority, the Province ranked as number 2 in terms of volume of swine production with 22,526 metric ton (MT) liveweight from 2016 to 2018 among the provinces in Zamboanga Peninsula. Meanwhile, Zamboanga del Sur ranked on top with 30,494 MT.

The Swine Production and Marketing enterprise worth P6 million under PRDP’s  start-up project primarily focused on the production of fattened pigs as its main product.

The project will be handled by five proponent groups (PGs) which include SACONCO, DUCONCO,  GOCONCO, PACONCO, and SIAPAFEDCO which is the lead proponent group of the project.

They will have the Unique Selling Preposition (USP) as the introduction of the package of technology (POT) with provision of inputs like feeds, biologics, proper feeding, care and maintenance and handling.

This will aid the farmers to improve their traditional practice of “Mata-mata” system by hog raisers and buyers. The lead PG is also expected to have comparative advantage in terms of production and marketing of fattened pigs.

Part of the package also is the provision of 4 motorcycle units worth P278,000; four units of fabricated side pen worth P100,000; 19 heads of sows worth P342,000; 1 head of boar worth P18,000; and 168 heads starter stocks worth P504 000.

Beneficiaries of this project are now starting to feel the impact where they started to raise and sell their swine.

“I availed three piglets and it was sold at P30,000 plus and I gained more than P4000. I used my income to buy another piglet and household needs. I’m thankful with this project because I got something from swine raising,” said Estelita Tepin of PAranglumba Cooperative.

Through this effort, the Local Government of Siay as well as its project beneficiaries expected that this will also impact in decreasing the poverty incidence in the municipality. In 2003, Siayan ranked as one of the poorest municipality in the country, in the latest survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority done in 2012, it has gone down to number 36 with  poverty incidence of 70.5 percent.

Aside from additional income, beneficiaries also experience the other emerging benefits of the project especially during emergencies.

“I availed the swine production last June of the 1st cycle. We raised them for four months. We sold them in November and it was very timely since my P6,700 profit was used in the hospitalization of my daughter and her medicine,” said Tita Mendoza of Dumpilas Cooperative.

The Enterprise is expected to increase the number of farmers engaged in swine production within cluster-members from 56 members to 644 members or 1,115% in Year 1; to increase the annual household income of beneficiaries from P25,491.07 to P40,440.73 or an average of 33% for ten (10) years; provide additional thirteen (13) job opportunities for members of the cluster-members from its existing of 17 individuals or 76% increase in Year 1; forge at least one (1) formalized arrangement for marketing agreement in Year; increase the number of women directly benefiting from the enterprise from 30 to 267 or an average of 60% increase per annum.

To date, the project is still ongoing and now on its 85.95% completion. The same project beneficiaries will availed the 2nd cycle of piglet distribution but this time with six piglets.(Joy M. Montecalvo with reports from Info RPCO 9)