As part of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery program, a breed of native chicken is currently being produced on commercial scale by members of the Panay Darag Breeders Association (PADABA) in Western Visayas.
Darag native chicken, which is a product of several years of breeding and selection through the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) funded R&D projects, is currently being produced on a commercial scale and sold to provincial Local Government Units (LGUs).
The PADABA recently sold a total of 3,350 heads of Darag ready-to-lay pullets valued at about P1.5 million to LGUs of Iloilo and Aklan provinces to be used for native chicken production as livelihood of rural dwellers in the said provinces.
This initiative is part of the LGUs’ COVID-19 pandemic recovery program.
Currently, the PADABA is consolidating about 19,000 heads of ready to lay Darag native chickens from its members to cater the needs of other LGUs in Region 6.
The PADABA is a SEC registered association of Darag native chicken breeders and producers who started as farmer cooperators of DOST-PCAARRD funded projects in previous years.
Its members are also beneficiaries of short course training and seminar-workshops which were conducted by DOST-PCAARRD. From a membership of 15 native chicken farmers in 2017, today PADABA has a membership of about 80 Darag native chicken raisers.