The Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing to use social media to advocate the production of native breeds of chicken in Eastern Visayas.

The use of an online platform seeks to create a high demand for native chickens and to transform rural farmers into becoming competitive entrepreneurs, commanding higher prices and earning higher, the DA regional office here said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Since the intensified promotion of native chicken enterprise development in 2016, the department has tapped seven multiplier farms to produce disease-resistant breeds of native chickens, and those highly adaptable to local agro-climatic conditions.

The department said it is upbeat at expanding the project by listing down possible partner-multiplier farms and partner-production farms, apart from DA stations.

“It is in this area where social media and radio broadcast were put to good use resulting in the enlistment of 83 partner-multiplier farms, and a total of 297 partner-production farms in the entire region,” it reported.

The DA will also use social media to educate raisers on the proper care and management of native chickens.

The four-year project that has distributed 16,000 chickens has already produced various mixtures of common backyard fowls of different breeds capable of producing as much as 130 to 200 eggs per year.

Initial study shows ranged native chicken provides meat with higher protein and lower fat. (PNA)