TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Training Institute (DA-ATI-CAR) is encouraging local farmers to engage in duck raising saying it is profitable and contributes income to the family.
Randy Soriano, training specialist at DA-ATI-CAR says that duck raising is a good source of income because ducks have strong immunity against diseases and are pest resilient, and demand for duck egg and duck meat products is high.
Because of the high demand for duck eggs and duck meat products, there is a need to focus on duck farming to increase production, he said.
Aside from the high demand, ducks can also be integrated to rice farming as they cultivate the soil, act as biological control for pests like the channeled apple snail or ‘golden kuhol’, and the poop can fertilize the soil.
According to Soriano, a market assessment done yesterday at Bulanao Public Market revealed a lack of duck eggs.
In his conversation with several of the vendors, he learned that the duck eggs they sell are from Isabela and are purchased immediately by shops.
There are several factors to consider while raising ducks, including space, which is critical for raising healthy ducks, unusual methods of rearing ducks, pest and disease management, and bird flu biosecurity measures.
When these are handled seriously, farmers can generate high yields, high-quality products, and charge higher prices. He estimated that 70-80 eggs can be produced for every 100 ducks.
Soriano further mentioned that some of the products derived from duck farming include the manufacturing of ‘balut’, fertilized duck eggs intentionally incubated for around 18 days, 10 days before hatching; salted red eggs, which are eaten alongside meat viands and salads; and duck ‘letson’.
According to the DA- ATI, duck raising is ranked second to chicken in the poultry industry. This presents a chance to rural farmers to increase their agricultural revenue by manufacturing highly priced protein products out of locally accessible feed supplies.
Participants in this three-day training on enterprise development planning for duck production, held from July 9-11 at the Grand Zion Garden Resort Hotel, learned about rice-based agro-ecological farming systems, as well as duck farming and management. They also attended a session on developing farm production and marketing plans, as well as farm enterprise budget preparation and production. They also went on a learning visit to Cagayan State University-Piat and conducted a market survey at the Bulanao Public Market and selected eateries. By Darwin S. Serion
