Enterprising farmers in Barangay Santa Rosa here are now producing their own animal feeds out of locally-available raw materials to save on production cost.

Emilio Miguel, chairperson of the Barangay Agricultural and Fishery Council in rural Santa Village, said in an interview Tuesday that knowing the basic formula used in animal feed production is a big help to them as animal raisers.

“With the increasing prices of agricultural inputs, we are thankful that we were given the opportunity to learn how to produce feeds for our livestock. We don’t have to buy commercial feeds anymore,” he said in Ilocano.

Backed by the Department of Agriculture and the city government, farmers here were trained on how to produce their own feeds for pigs, cattle, and goats using corn as a major ingredient.

Instead of buying commercial feeds pegged at PHP2,000 per sack, hog raisers can earn double or triple now that they have their own local feed formula.

Hog raisers said that each fattening pig can consume about PHP8,000 worth of commercial feeds before it is ready for disposal. But with the use of the homemade feed formula, they only need to shell out PHP2,000 for raw materials.

To boost the productivity of farmers, city agriculturist Sheila Marie Opelac said they are keen on providing the necessary training for the animal raisers.

Presently, the DA, in partnership with various government agencies, continues to provide agricultural machinery and equipment, as well as various skills training that they can use to level up their methods of farming.

“We are thankful for the government support. Whatever we learned from the training will be shared with fellow farmers who may be interested to make their own feeds,” said Rolando Pascual, treasurer of the Santa Rosa Farmers Association.

To date, farmers here are just waiting for the DA’s final approval and clearance so they can fully resume raising hogs again after being affected by the African swine fever. (PNA)