BONTOC, Mountain Province – Brown eggs and vegetables will soon be added as food on the table to the eighteen families in Bontoc that received free-range chicks on October 6, 2020.
Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey said that this is part of the intervention initiatives of the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) to promote health and nutrition among its constituents especially among malnourished children in the municipality.
Odsey remarked that going back to basics by producing organic food through free- range chicken brown egg production and backyard gardening are cost-efficient and healthy. Municipal Nutrition Action Officer Venous Faith Cofulan of the Municipal Health Office explained that there are 162 malnourished children in Bontoc based on the yearly Operation Timbang Plus (OPT+). Children ages –59 months are covered in the OPT+.
Of the total, the parents or guardians of the malnourished children were advised to propose interventions or programs that the government may provide them. Of the total, 18 parents chose free- range chicken for brown egg production. Cofulan clarified that the other parents chose piggery, food processing, among others.
According to Municipal Assistant Department Head Catherine Agcon of the Office of the Municipal Agriculturist (OMAg) each recipient was given 15 heads of free- range chicks and 25 kilograms of chick booster feeds.
The recipients are from Barangays Alab Proper, Alab Oriente, Balili, Bontoc Ili, Caluttit, Poblacion, Samoki, and Talubin. Agcon added that prior to the distribution of free-range chicks, the recipients underwent training on free-range chicken production conducted by the OMAg in partnership with the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian.
The counterpart of the recipients is the preparation of the housing of the poultry. Agcon added that all the parents of the identified malnourished children were given vegetable seedlings for backyard gardening in the previous months.
She added that there are available vegetable seedlings at the OMAg should parents or guardians be interested to sustain their backyard gardens. This undertaking of the Bontoc LGU was realized through the OMAg and the Municipal Nutrition Council. The Municipal Nutrition Council is chaired by the mayor.
By Alpine L. Killa