DAVAO CITY (PNA) – Department of Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol will finance every Filipino farmer to make them raise chickens that will augment their livelihood and become their source of food, too.
Piñol said the plan would entail giving 10 hens and two roosters for every farming family as he estimates that a chicken can produce 150 eggs a month.
Piñol adds that if 30% of the eggs would successfully hatch, that would mean 45 chicks which would transate to a P4,500 additional income based on the estimated price of P100/chick.
To jumpstart the program he has directed the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to start a nationwide immunization program starting next year to all chickens in the country to eradicate avian diseases such as fowl pox, NCD (Newcastle Disease) and Avian Influenza.
With the eradication of the avian diseases Pinol hopes the chickens to be given to the farmers will have a very high chance of survival.