Chicken
From being an importer of poultry, the country is now bound to becoming an exporter of chicken products.
Last Thursday, San Miguel Foods inaugurated the first of 12 large-scale poultry farms in Davao del Sur. The sheer size of this farm is staggering. San Miguel outdid itself by building this facility in only four months.
The Davao del Sur farm is projected to produce 80 million birds per year. It is composed of 28 modules with five farmhouses, each spread over 66 hectares. It will produce the equivalent of Mindanao’s annual chicken consumption.
The scientifically designed farm maintains stress-free conditions for chickens to optimize their health and growth. The highest standards of biosecurity will be observed. The entire farm will be climate-controlled – an important factor given the realities of climate change.
The hotter temperatures we have been experiencing stress the chickens and stunts their growth. Hotter days ahead make them vulnerable to epidemics.
The Magnolia farm also features rainwater harvesting, discounting droughts as a factor that could threaten our production. The manure produced is used as fertilizer for farming cassava and corn, important raw materials for chicken feed. In all, San Miguel estimates that the Davao del Sur plant will generate 1,000 well-paying jobs for the host community.
Magnolia developed linkages with farmers in the surrounding areas, helping them plant corn and cassava. The backward linkage creates jobs and increases farmer incomes. The forward linkages to the processing technologies of San Miguel Foods enables added value to be retained in the local economy.
President BBM understood that this development is of such importance to building the nation’s food security that he graced the mega farm’s inauguration. Over the next couple of years, as the 11 other mega farms are built, we will have a chicken surplus.
The chicken harvested using the most advanced technology will be price competitive. This is how smuggling could be defeated: by quality local production at lower prices.
This is what the revolution in our agriculture looks like. It involves large capitalization, advanced technology, scientific methods and the
