Department of Agriculture launches first small ruminant center in Region I

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture has inaugurated the first Small Ruminant Center in Region I.

The Pugo Small Ruminant Center in La Union, the first in the  Ilocos Region, is part of the DA’s expansion program on Rural Enterprise Development for Innovative Goat Production Systems (RED-IGPS).

It is a project of the DA’s Research Division, showcasing various technologies on goat production that aims to make interested goat raisers become empowered and entrepreneurially equipped on goat production systems.

The goat production program is part of the DA’s vision of reducing poverty incidence in the countryside while at the same time improving the daily income of farmers.

Occupying a 200-square meter lot that used to be a rice farm, the SRC is also an agri-tourism project of Pugo which attracts visitors from other provinces interested in the project and looking for some practical ideas in goat raising.

The SRC will serve as the show window of different breeds of goats such as Anglo-nubian, Saanen, Boer and upgrade breeds. The different goat breeds are for sale at the SRC. 

Goat production technologies such as the selection of breeds, housing, nutrient and health management practices will be available at the SRC for duplication and adoption by interested farmers.

The SRC would likewise serve as an income-generating project for the municipality of Pugo, the barangay council of Cuenca and the farmer-cooperators. 

The sale of upgraded goat offspring such as the F1 breed – which can be sold for P120 a kilo and the F2 at P220 a kilo live weight – could also bring in additional income. When dressed, chevon (goat meat) can be sold at P250/kilo.

After Pugo, the DA is set to expand the project in the municipalities of Bacnotan, San Juan and Bauang, all in La Union and two municipalities in the province of Pangasinan. To realize the expansion, DA-RFU I through the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani-Livestock Program will provide counterpart funding in the form of livestock, seedlings and seedling materials for the establishment of forage garden. – Marianne Go