Farmers in Rosario, Agusan del Sur have found an ally in controlling pests while at the same time boosting their income.
Instead of spending a lot on chemical pesticides they let their ducks control pest infestation, a practice that is not only environment-friendly but also a viable source of income.
“Kuhol [golden snail] and black bugs are two major pests attacking our rice fields and causing major damage to our crops. Controlling these pests require higher expenses in chemicals,” said Ben Martinez of Wasian Irrigators’ Association (WIA).
Ben said small farmers like him could hardly afford to buy chemicals, hence he along with other farmers looked for ways to control kuhol and black bugs.
We are glad that the local agriculture office introduced the rice-duck farming system to control pests,” he said, adding that most of the farmers cannot afford to buy ducks.
Endorsed by the local government to the MRDP [Mindanao Rural Development Program], the WIA was able to access funds to go into rice-duck farming as the members’ livelihood project.
MRDP is a special project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) jointly funded by the World Bank, and the national and local government units. Now on its midterm of implementation, the program continues to put up rural infrastructure and livelihood projects for its covered towns across Mindanao.
The association accessed P250, 000 for its rice-duck farming system project. Out of 30 beneficiaries, ten members were chosen as direct beneficiaries of the project. “Selection was based on the availability of their area for raising ducks,” said technician Delia Valenzuela of the local agriculture office.
“The bulk of the fund was used to procure herds and the needed materials, particularly nets and feed while the remaining amount was used to buy inputs for rice production,” she added.
Although rice-duck farming system is not a new technology, it was only through the CFAD project that Ben realized the numerous benefits of raising ducks in his field.
“Ducks effectively controlled not only the kuhol population and black bugs but also other harmful insects such as stem borers, and green leaf hoppers, as well as rats,” he added.
Raising ducks in the rice fields help us minimize the use of expensive and hazardous chemicals. It also helps control weeds as ducks also feed themselves by eating its seeds and sprouts of weeds thus preventing the seeds from multiplying,” he said.
Egg-citing livelihood
Aside from cutting down on farm expenses, Ben discovered that ducks can be a source of lucrative income. In just a year after he started raising ducks, he now earns more from his laying ducks which produce eggs on a regular basis.
Duck eggs command premium prices as they are processed into balut (incubated eggs, an exotic Filipino delicacy ), salted eggs, and century eggs. They sell anywhere from P6.00 to P7.00 apiece.
“Our ducks [of 260 heads] lay about 190 to 200 eggs a day which provide us an income of at least P40, 000 a month,” Ben said.
A trader comes to their place weekly to buy their duck eggs and in turn sell them to balut makers in the next town of Trento.
“Our income from duck eggs help is more than sufficient to meet our daily needs, most especially our children’s school expenses,” he said.
Ben’s ducks need little attention, thus allowing him enough more time to attend to rice farming and other farm activities.
“We feed our ducks only early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Also, ducks lay their eggs at night and early in the morning. So, we collect eggs only in the morning giving us enough time to do other farming tasks for the rest of the day,” he said adding:
“It’s always exciting each time I collect the eggs as it’s almost like collecting money itself. It also gives me great satisfaction knowing that I have found a way to successfully raise a flock of healthy ducks,” he said.
His piece of advice for those interested in venturing into rice-duck farming is to observe some practical tips such as providing shelter and supplemental feeds.
“Although ducks love to stay in inundated paddy fields, a shelter must be available nearby with well-drained flooring to keep them dry. Ducks do not need to be wet at all times to avoid contacting diseases,” he said.
For the layers to be more productive, he feeds them with a variety of feeds which include yellow corn, kangkong, copra, and fruits.
“To prevent the ducks from affecting the growth of your crop, release them in the fields 25 days after planting or when the crop reaches 20 centimeters tall which is enough to withstand any pressure from the ducks movement,” he said.
Ben, along with other farmer-beneficiaries, is giving back at least ten percent of his income to the association in repayment of the funding he availed from it. He said once he has fulfilled his obligation to the association he would buy an incubator so that he could increase the number of his ducks. An incubator will not only help in hatching a large number of eggs at any one time, but also in producing more stock for distribution to next-in-line beneficiaries. It will also give them capability to venture into value-adding activities such as production of duck meat and balut along with salted egg making.
Ben said their association is grateful to the local government and to DA-MRDP for their assistance. “We used to be depend for our income on rice production, but the CFAD project has enabled us not only to harvest rice but also to go into duck eggs production on the same piece of land we own.” [NOEL T. PROVIDO]
Instead of spending a lot on chemical pesticides they let their ducks control pest infestation, a practice that is not only environment-friendly but also a viable source of income.
“Kuhol [golden snail] and black bugs are two major pests attacking our rice fields and causing major damage to our crops. Controlling these pests require higher expenses in chemicals,” said Ben Martinez of Wasian Irrigators’ Association (WIA).
Ben said small farmers like him could hardly afford to buy chemicals, hence he along with other farmers looked for ways to control kuhol and black bugs.
We are glad that the local agriculture office introduced the rice-duck farming system to control pests,” he said, adding that most of the farmers cannot afford to buy ducks.
Endorsed by the local government to the MRDP [Mindanao Rural Development Program], the WIA was able to access funds to go into rice-duck farming as the members’ livelihood project.
MRDP is a special project of the Department of Agriculture (DA) jointly funded by the World Bank, and the national and local government units. Now on its midterm of implementation, the program continues to put up rural infrastructure and livelihood projects for its covered towns across Mindanao.
The association accessed P250, 000 for its rice-duck farming system project. Out of 30 beneficiaries, ten members were chosen as direct beneficiaries of the project. “Selection was based on the availability of their area for raising ducks,” said technician Delia Valenzuela of the local agriculture office.
“The bulk of the fund was used to procure herds and the needed materials, particularly nets and feed while the remaining amount was used to buy inputs for rice production,” she added.
Although rice-duck farming system is not a new technology, it was only through the CFAD project that Ben realized the numerous benefits of raising ducks in his field.
“Ducks effectively controlled not only the kuhol population and black bugs but also other harmful insects such as stem borers, and green leaf hoppers, as well as rats,” he added.
Raising ducks in the rice fields help us minimize the use of expensive and hazardous chemicals. It also helps control weeds as ducks also feed themselves by eating its seeds and sprouts of weeds thus preventing the seeds from multiplying,” he said.
Egg-citing livelihood
Aside from cutting down on farm expenses, Ben discovered that ducks can be a source of lucrative income. In just a year after he started raising ducks, he now earns more from his laying ducks which produce eggs on a regular basis.
Duck eggs command premium prices as they are processed into balut (incubated eggs, an exotic Filipino delicacy ), salted eggs, and century eggs. They sell anywhere from P6.00 to P7.00 apiece.
“Our ducks [of 260 heads] lay about 190 to 200 eggs a day which provide us an income of at least P40, 000 a month,” Ben said.
A trader comes to their place weekly to buy their duck eggs and in turn sell them to balut makers in the next town of Trento.
“Our income from duck eggs help is more than sufficient to meet our daily needs, most especially our children’s school expenses,” he said.
Ben’s ducks need little attention, thus allowing him enough more time to attend to rice farming and other farm activities.
“We feed our ducks only early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Also, ducks lay their eggs at night and early in the morning. So, we collect eggs only in the morning giving us enough time to do other farming tasks for the rest of the day,” he said adding:
“It’s always exciting each time I collect the eggs as it’s almost like collecting money itself. It also gives me great satisfaction knowing that I have found a way to successfully raise a flock of healthy ducks,” he said.
His piece of advice for those interested in venturing into rice-duck farming is to observe some practical tips such as providing shelter and supplemental feeds.
“Although ducks love to stay in inundated paddy fields, a shelter must be available nearby with well-drained flooring to keep them dry. Ducks do not need to be wet at all times to avoid contacting diseases,” he said.
For the layers to be more productive, he feeds them with a variety of feeds which include yellow corn, kangkong, copra, and fruits.
“To prevent the ducks from affecting the growth of your crop, release them in the fields 25 days after planting or when the crop reaches 20 centimeters tall which is enough to withstand any pressure from the ducks movement,” he said.
Ben, along with other farmer-beneficiaries, is giving back at least ten percent of his income to the association in repayment of the funding he availed from it. He said once he has fulfilled his obligation to the association he would buy an incubator so that he could increase the number of his ducks. An incubator will not only help in hatching a large number of eggs at any one time, but also in producing more stock for distribution to next-in-line beneficiaries. It will also give them capability to venture into value-adding activities such as production of duck meat and balut along with salted egg making.
Ben said their association is grateful to the local government and to DA-MRDP for their assistance. “We used to be depend for our income on rice production, but the CFAD project has enabled us not only to harvest rice but also to go into duck eggs production on the same piece of land we own.” [NOEL T. PROVIDO]
