Graduates of the Farmer Livestock School on Goat Enterprise Management across the country have shown that raising goats even using meager resources can augment farm income.
To show the workers of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) the viability of what it preaches, the Council’s management set up a goat farm at its backyard and invited its security personnel to serve as goat keepers. Fourteen security guards acquiesced to the invitation and signed the Covenant of Commitment on July 20, 2016.
On the same day, the Small Ruminant Center of CLSU turned over to DOST-PCAARRD five does and one junior buck to serve as foundation stocks of the guards. These are all upgraded goats of the Anglo Nubian bloodline. Average weight of the females at the time of the turnover was 33kg while the junior buck was 23kg. All the females were ready to breed.
During the simple ceremony at the goat pen, Neal A. del Rosario of Central Luzon State University (CLSU), one of the Project Leaders of the Goat Program, handed over the goats to Dr. Edwin Villar, Deputy Executive Director for Research and Development and Dr. Danilo Cardenas, Deputy Executive Director for Administration, Resource Management and Support Services (ARMSS). The two DOST-PCAARRD officials in turn transferred the goats to the security personnel, headed by its Security Officer Jessie Martin and Assistant Security Officer Cornelio Mallari.
Prior to the turnover, Anna Marie Alo, DOST-PCAARRD’s Industry Strategic S&T Program (ISP) manager for goat briefed the security guards on their roles as well as the sharing arrangement.
Guards’ daily routine, as agreed upon, include feeding, gathering of grasses and legumes, maintaining the forage garden especially during dry days, cleaning of surroundings, and packing of the dry manure.
The guards are also tasked to let the goats roam within the loafing area during sunny days; repair the pen and fence; and install pen covers to protect and secure the goats during bad weather. They are also tasked to record information on the farm such as date of breeding, kidding, number and weight of kids, as well as the weights of kids over time and symptoms of diseases.
The agreement employs the Paiwe system, wherein the guards and DOST-PCAARRD shall equally share the offspring of every doe, ensuring that the female kids are shared. The guards can sell the male goats once they reach six to eight months and keep the good quality females to serve as new female breeders or milkers in the future. They can also earn from selling the processed manure and the forage planting materials. In the future, they can even sell the milk from the goats.
To ensure that the guards’ work schedule is not compromised, the 14 security guards pledged to equally share the seven days of the week, assigning two off-duty personnel to tend the goats for about an hour per day.
Goat is among the 32 commodities included in the DOST-PCAARRD’s ISPs. It envisions an increase in productivity of the goats: improved conception rate from 75 to 90%; decreased kidding interval from nine to eight months; decreased preweaning mortality from 25 to 10%; and increased slaughter weight from 15 to 30kg by 2020.