Inspiring stories in April issue of Agriculture mag

Watch for the April 2016 issue of Agriculture magazine and get inspired by the success stories from Vietnam as well as from the local front.

From Vietnam, you will read about how they manage to produce big volumes of jackfruit for export as well as for their local market. In dragon production, they really undertake large scale projects. In one place in Long An province, for instance, no less than 800 hectares are devoted to dragon fruit production in one contiguous place.

One company, MIT International, processes as many as 20 tons of jackfruit a day because there is sufficient supply from farmers in a province. And that is the reason why a Philippine supermarket chain has been importing frozen jackfruit pulp by the tons. That is something that it cannot procure in the Philippines because there is no single local source that can provide the big amount.

This should give an idea to our local Department of Agriculture and private entrepreneurs to come up with a program that will enable the country to produce jackfruit similar to what they are doing in Vietnam.

In the case of dragon fruit, the farmers have adopted good agricultural practices to maximize production. The farmers are irrigating the dragon fruit plants and also fertilize them adequately. This results in robust growth and high yields. In the Philippines, we have not seen dragon fruit farms irrigating their crops like they do in Vietnam.

There is also the Quynh Anh company in Dong Nai province which is producing a lot of fried fruits that are greaseless. They have a technique of removing the oil from fried fruits.

The Vietnamese are also fast adopting the new technology called IQF or instant quick freeze which freezes agricultural products in a matter of three to four minutes. This way, the frozen items retain their freshness and nutrients. These are great for the export market. When thawed, the products are fresh and don’t become soggy.

One company that we visited can quick freeze no less than 12.5 tons per hour. And they are currently doing baby corn, sweet corn, snack soybean and various vegetables for the export market.

In the local front, we have inspiring stories of enterprising farmers. Just like the all-women members of the cooperative in Solsona, Ilocos Norte which comes by the name of Nasalukag Women’s Multi-Purpose cooperative.  They started their business in 1995 with a meager capital of R5,000. Today, they boast of assets of R9 million.

Another is the “bugnay wine revolution” in the tiny town of Adams in Ilocos Norte. The native wine has made the town famous. Make sure to get a copy of Agriclture magazine which will be off the press very soon.

Learn about quail raising potential  in agri tour to experimental farm

You can learn about the potentials of quail raising by joining the AANI Farm Tour on Sunday, April 3, which will visit the feed mill and experimental farm of Agrichexers in sta. Maria, Bulacan.

The experimental farm is where the products of the feedmill are tested  for their efficiency not only in promoting animal growth but also in cutting cost of production.

Bright ideas in quail raising can be picked up from the experts of Agrichexers. They have now designed a model for small scale quail raising in the urban areas. A double deck cage that can accommodate 40 layers can produce more eggs than the ordinary family will need for their daily meals. They can sell some of what they collect to pay for the feeds they buy.

Agrichexers is about the biggest manufacturer of quail feeds. Gil Garcia is very proud to claim that the users of their quail feeds produce bigger eggs with better shell quality. They are selling 1,000 tons of quail feeds a month, which means that at any given day, some 1.6 million quails are consuming Agrichexers feed at 23 grams per bird.

Agrichexers has also introduced an automatic drinker for quails. This makes providing drinking water to the quails more hygienic and with much less labor. This is because, there is no need to wash the drinkers every day. The birds learn to drink from the nipple which flows directly from an overhead tank. No water is wasted, and the drinking water is not polluted by feed droppings.

If you are a broiler raiser, whether backyard or commercial, you might like to adopt their practice of incorporating Noni juice in the drinking water of the birds. That’s their way of preventing respiratory and other diseases in chickens.

You might also want to copy their practice of supplementing their commercial feeds for pigs and chickens with Azolla. This is a water plant that multiplies fast and is relished by pigs and free-range chickens.

Gil Garcia, the president of Agrichexers, is very proud of their premium hog feed which results in high quality meat that is well liked by market retailers and viajeros. The slaughter pigs produced have thin backfat and the color of the meat is well pronounced, not pale.

Another important lesson can be had in raising hogs in pens that are floored with a mixture of rice hull and carbonized rice hull. Under this system, the pigs are restful and comfortable in the soft bed of rice hull and carbonized rice hull. There is no need to bathe the animals nor to wash the pens. The foul odor often associated with piggeries is eliminated by the use of effective microorganisms.

The company’s affiliated cooperative has also launched a program to help small scale pig farmers to raise fatteners or to produce weanlings for sale.

Under the scheme, the co-op advances the piglets and the feeds. All the farmer has to provide is the housing, his labor, water and electricity. After the slaughter pig is sold, the value of the piglet and feeds consumed by each pig are deducted from the proceeds of the sale. Out of the remainder, 60 percent goes to the farmer-grower while the 40 percent goes to the cooperative.

This is one way of helping the small farmers who don’t have the capital to fully finance their piggery projects.

A similar program has also been launched for people who want to raise broilers. They are given the day-old chicks and the feeds. After selling the fowls and deducting the expenses, the remainder is shared by the grower and the co-op, with the co-op getting 40 percent and the raiser 60 percent.

Those interested to join the AANI Farm Tour may contact Jocelyn Mahipus at 0932-442-5025 or you can go direct to the AANI office at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

Source: Manila Bulletin