The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Mimaropa region has awarded an 880-egg capacity incubator to the Organic Farmers Cooperative Association (FCA) in this town to boost their production for income growth.

The intervention under the Livestock Program of DA was granted on Monday to Organico Mindoreños – Magsaysay Chapter, an FCA situated in Barangay Poblacion.

The group currently has 20 active members involved in organic poultry and duck production.

In addition to utilizing the incubator for hatching duck and chicken eggs for production sustainability, the group wants to provide incubating services to other farmers outside their association to maximize the equipment’s use.

“Hindi lang kami ang makikinabang sa incubator na ito, kundi mga farmers din na mangangailangan (We will not be the only ones to benefit from the incubator, but other farmers in need of its services as well),” said Efren Gonzales, chairperson of Organico Mindoreños-Magsaysay Chapter.

Chicken eggs require 21 days of incubation while duck eggs are incubated for at least 28 days to hatch.

Before the grant, the association used an improvised incubator made of polystyrene and a light bulb with a 50-80 egg capacity.

With the new equipment, the group can increase their hatch rate exponentially as it usually takes an average of 10 months to hatch 880 eggs with their old incubator.

“Dati, pangsarili lang naming pangkonsumo ang napapapisa namin. Ngayon pa lang kami makakapagsimula ng commercial ng poultry dahil mayroon na kaming incubator (Before, our production is allocated only for own consumption. With our new incubator, we can start commercial sale for our poultry and duck production),” Gonzales noted.

A turnover ceremony was conducted in the municipal grounds of Magsaysay with Mayor Cesar Tria Jr., Municipal Agriculturist Richard Ochaves, and Roxanne Yadao, DA Livestock staff in attendance. (PNA)