(Agricultural Training Institute Regional Center Director Veronica Concepcion Esguerra talks to farmers in Tarlac who are beneficiaries of the “SaGOAT Kita! Swak na Pamamaraan sa Paghahayupan!” which is a School-on-the-Air on Goat Production Technology. Cherie Joyce V. Flores/PIA 3)
TARLAC CITY – About 500 farmers in Tarlac currently benefit from the “SaGOAT Kita! Swak na Pamamaraan sa Paghahayupan!” a School-on-the-Air on Goat Production Technology of Agricultural Training Institute (ATI).
“This aims to capacitate farmers on the latest technologies on goat farming to increase their production and apply all the knowledge gained in this farming system. They need to learn its proper management practices to guarantee safe livestock meat,” ATI Regional Center Director Veronica Concepcion Esguerra said.
Data from Philippine Statistics Authority show that only 248,968 out of 341,466 farms in Central Luzon reported to have reared livestock.
In the past years, the region contributed 16.14 percent of livestock production placing it among the lowest in the country.
“With the present situation of the livestock production of the country and the profits that farmers could get from it, still few engaged in livestock farming. One reason seen is they have low technology on raising livestock resulting to low farm productivity,” Esguerra explained.
“To address this, we adopted the School-on-the-Air Program to speed up information dissemination regarding the latest technologies on livestock farming because to date, radio and television are the most effective tools of communication for the support of agricultural development,” she furthered.
Modules in the program include Program Overview, Goat Production Status in Tarlac, Goat Breeds, Animal Husbandry, Goat Selection, Breeding and Record Keeping, Health Management, Common Diseases, Nutrition, Housing and Sanitation, Meat Hygiene Practices, Marketing and Value Adding, Traits of an Agri-preneur, and Opportunity Assessment and Identification.
ATI also distributed radio equipment to the farmers so that they can actively participate in the program which airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:00 to 6:00 AM over DZTC 828 KHz. – PIA 3
