ILOILO City – 14 barangays in Iloilo City benefitted from production inputs and technical assistance of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas.
Iloilo City agriculturist Iñigo Garingalao said DA 6 turned over 140 native chicken stocks and these were distributed to 14 barangays in Iloilo City.
“The native chicken stocks they turned over are not part of their regular funding but DA Regional Office has found ways to provide us the support that we need to go on with our urban farming efforts,” he said.
Funded under the savings of the Typhoon Ursula Rehabilitation Program of the agency, the native chickens were distributed to the recipient barangays in Iloilo City.
Each barangay received eight pullets and two cockerels, and the initial household recipients are encouraged to roll-over the stocks to the next-in-line beneficiaries.
Garingalao said that the DA’s continuous provision of farm inputs, animal stocks, and technology training made it plausible for the up-scaling of the so-called “JPT Ediscapes.”
“The move intends to promote communal gardening among urban villagers as a long-term solution to food inadequacy amid the effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic,” he added.
Although chickens are typically raised in rural backyards, Iloilo City residents welcomed the idea of growing chickens within their small vacant lots.
Identified beneficiaries have prepared the housing or cages, and feeds as their counterpart for the poultry project. (DA-6/JSC/LTP/PIA6 Iloilo)
