A GOAT-BASED, multiagency research and development offers a ray of hope to further develop the country’s small ruminants industry through an improved system that includes breeding imported goats with native goats for better meat and milk production.

Dubbed Rural Enterprise Development—Innovative Goat Production System (RED-IGPS), the project, when replicated successfully, can raise by more than 80 percent of a farm’s goat population and generate more income for the P13.2-billion industry of specialty chevon or goat meat.

The project successfully raised goat population in its Phase 2 trial farms of nine farmers’ associations in the Ilocos Region by equipping farmers covered by the project with tools of the trade, such as how to prevent the mortality or deaths because of diseases, and how to properly feed the goats so that they will grow healthy and reproduce faster.

These trial farms are in the towns of Bacnotan, San Juan, and Bauang in La Union; and Balungao, Bayambang, and Bautista in Pangasinan.

Goat-raising in rural areas are almost always unsuccessful because of the high mortality of goats, especially during the rainy season, during which goats are most vulnerable to acquiring diseases.

With a new breeding method or system, the project has produced superior breed from the crossing of Philippine native with Anglo Nubian and Boer breeds. 

This resulted in goats’ improved reproductive performance, improved capacity to produce milk and to sustain nutrient needs of their offspring called kids, and faster fattening ability that allows for earlier slaughter.

The project has the potential to boost nationally goat inventory, presently at 3.3 million heads, when replicated.  It just won the Bureau of Agricultural Research-National Research’s (BAR) first prize for the Development Agriculture category.  It empowered 461 farm families or goat entrepreneurs.

“Goat-raising is considered a rural growth booster. It deserves a top priority to intensify and build up farmers’ living asset,” said Dr. Jovita M. Datuin, Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Unit 1 manager.

RED also has the significant contribution of encouraging entrepreneurship among small goat farmers.

“Goat production is already a successful poverty-alleviation program.  We just need to upgrade our systems so that it will become truly grounded as an enterprise among small farmers,” said BAR Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar who spearheaded an increase in prize for outstanding field research works as RED.

RED taught farmers health and disease management including deworming that reduces mortality, improved goat housing, improved forage, and food supplementation through legumes, concentrates, vitamins and urea-molasses multinutrient block (UMMB).

UMMB is fed on animals as a regular source of degradable nitrogen.  It promotes growth of rumen microbes in ruminants (animals with four-compartment stomach) fed with poor quality forage.  Deworming alone is estimated to spare farmers from an annual goat loss of $3.55 million (P142 million), according to an earlier study of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.  

Farmers without proper training experience 60 percent to 80 percent mortality rate of their herds due to diarrhea, parasites and pneumonia.

A trading post was opened in Tubao as a pooling area for goats. It acts as a stable price reference that eliminates “bultuhan-tantyahan” system of pricing breeder and slaughter goats.  In Pugo, a ruminant farmers’ center was established.

“This enhances market access of small goat entrepreneurs to an organized market center,” said a RED report.

With the support of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, Natural Resources Research and Development and the  provincial, town, and barangay LGUs, P11.5 million was invested for breeder stocks.  Funded also was the construction of P3.5 million worth of 190 constructed goat houses and forage garden. 

RED was implemented from November 2009 to May 2011.  Other project implementers were Wilson D. Cerbito, Josefina P. Bueno, Cathy B. Pastor, Sharon A. Viloria , Luciana T. Cruz, Florentino A. Adame and Lemuel M. Abrenica.

Goat production is economically valuable for the Philippines with value rising from P3.3 billion in 2000 to P5.113 billion in 2005.  At the increased price of P4,000 per head, the 3.3 million-head inventory is now valued at P13.2 billion.

Chevon is considered a specialty meat served as a delicacy in important occasions. 

 “There was substantial interest in the sector with new farms being set up, increased importation of stocks, and expanding organization of small ruminants [livestock feeding by grazing] nationwide,” according to the Livestock Development Council.

Goat importation rose about five times from 155 heads in 2001 to 1,330 heads in 2005.  Imports came from the US, Australia and New Zealand.