Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in Muntinlupa will soon raise broiler and layer chickens as food source and alternative livelihood.
This was discussed during a seminar on basic broiler and layer chicken production and management at the Minimum Security Compound (MinSeCom) of BuCor in Muntinlupa.
The seminar was held on March 4, 2021 and organized by the Livestock Research Division (LRD) of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD). It was attended by officers and PDLs from BuCor's minimum security facility.
BuCor MinSeCom, Muntinlupa is one of the project sites of the Council's project, "Assessment of the technical and economic feasibility of village-scale chicken meat and egg production system."
The project hopes to develop a profitable and sustainable village-scale meat and egg production system to ensure food availability within communities during health emergencies and calamities.
As an initial startup, PCAARRD will be providing three batches of broiler chicks with 1,800 chicks/batch as well as 384 ready-to-lay layer chickens.
The Council will also provide a feather plucker machine, chiller, freezer, feeds, and pre-fabricated cages.
The cages will be set up within the 10-hectare agricultural land of MinSeCom.
Supt. Sheroky T. Bilibli, officer-in-charge of MinSeCom’s work and livelihood program, says the area will soon be developed into a MinSeCom agricultural ecotourism and business center.
Bilibli also says 70% of future profit will go directly to the PDLs; 20% will be used for area maintenance; and 10% will be used in their MinSeCom commissary.
Dr. Synan S. Baguio, LRD-PCAARRD Director, emphasized that aside from imparting knowledge and assistance, PCAARRD also hopes to learn from firsthand experiences of the project beneficiaries.
The said project is an initiative under the "Manok at Itlog para sa Pamayanan," a component of the GALING-PCAARRD Kontra COVID-19 Program of DOST-PCAARRD.