Tacloban City, May 26, 2017 - The Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) was awarded a research grant of Php 11,572,665 from the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) Governing Council at DOST, Bicutan Taguig City last June 4, 2015. This is for a research program entitled Conservation, Improvement and Profitable Utilization of the Philippine Native Pig in Eastern Visayas.
The research program focuses on developing technology that matches the genetic characteristics of the native pig with a study duration of five (5) years, and is expected to be completed by the year 2020.
The study leader for the project is Dr. Felix A. Afable,the Dean of the ESSU Graduate School and a faculty of the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (CANS), together with senior researchers Dr. Sharon B. Singzon, Prof. Rhea Palma C. Alura, and Prof. Imelda C. Casillano, also from the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at ESSU Borongan Eastern Samar.
The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development or PCAARRD is one of the sectoral councils under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It was established in June 22, 2011 through the consolidation of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) and the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).
Based on existing literatures, the Province of Eastern Samar is best known for its native animals. It is in this premise that the Deputy Director for Livestock of PCAARRD, Dr. Synan Baguio visited ESSU and presented to the University President, Dr. Edmundo A. Campoto and the senior researchers form CANS to prepare the proposal in 2015 which was eventually approved on the same year.
Together with ESSU, there are also other implementing and partner agencies for the research on native pig in Eastern Samar such as the Benguet State College (MSC), Isabela State University (ISU), Kalinga-Apayao State College, Marinduque State College (MSC), National Swine and Poultry Research and Development Center-Bureau of Animal Industry (NSPRDC-BAI), Nueva Viscaya State University (NVSU) and University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB).
According to the research team for the native pig research in Eastern Samar, the goal of the project is to develop a technology that matches the genetic characteristics of the native pig and the capability of the farmer. That is, to provide the farmer a pig breeding stock that is true to type complemented with feeds and management practices that is within the research capacity of the farmer.
Raising of native pigs is part of the small rural farm landscape of Eastern Visayas. Despite their small body size, slow growth rate and relatively small litter size, these pigs are preferred by small farmers because of their inherent resilience to extreme weather conditions.
With the said characteristics of the native pig, cash requirement for production is minimal and thus the cost to produce native pig meat is low. The natural selection process also endowed the native pigs with unique taste, flavor and texture of its meat that is preferred and paid a premium price by consumers when processed into lechon, etag, longanisa and other ethnic delicacies.The native pigs’ low production cost that is matched with high prices of its products offers a financially feasible and sustainable livelihood opportunity for resource-poor rural farmers particularly in Region VIII. The potentials of the native pig for rural enterprise building are highlighted by the consistently growing demand for the native roast pig or lechon.
The increasing demand for lechon could be attributed to factors i.e. improvement in economic status of Filipino families, increasing demand for naturally produced food products, increasing accessibility of lechon (both in traditional markets and in high-end malls and supermarkets) and more aggressive promotion thru trade fairs and festivals. The annual lechon festival in Borongan City, Eastern Samar creates and promotes a huge demand for native pigs in the area.
The potentials of native pigs in rural enterprise building is clear however, the unpredictability in production performance and wide variability of the quality of native pig products pose as major barrier to full utilization of its potentials.
Initial observations of the PCAARRD funded native pig R&D program in four regions in Luzon suggest that predictability of production performance could be achieved through breeding and selection methods for the development of breeding true to type populations of native pigs. Moreover, consistent product quality is achieved through the development of a production management system that is suited the improved genetics of native pigs.
To optimize the economic benefits from native pig raising, reasonable pricing and marketing of native pig products have to be established. All these information have to be organized, packaged and disseminated to primary stakeholders to effectively translate the potentials of native pigs into livelihood options and eventually into income for small farmers.
The research is composed of three (3) projects; project 1 is entitled “Native Pig breeding and production as sustainable livelihood option in calamity prone areas”. The study duration is for five (5) years. The second project (project 2)will be “developing a local resource-based free range production management system for improved climate-resilient native pigs” with a study duration is three (3) years. And lastly, project 3 will focus on “value chain and policy studies in support of native pig production in Eastern Samar” that will run for a duration of two (2) years.
According to the researchers, this study on native pig is the only major project of this magnitude in the University currently and that externally funded studies such as this are directed towards technology development that will be beneficial for farmers in Eastern Samar. If successfully done, this project will open up similar projects guaranteed by PCAARRD, aimed at boosting the research capability of the University and focused at attaining the role of university in rural and agricultural developments in the province.
Technology development that matches the capability of the farmer and limited manpower are few of the challenges facing the research team since the beginning of this study. Given the time constraints, validation of the research outputs is a drawback.
The fund constraint is also a problem for the research team because the University has to provide counterpart in this project. The limited number of field personnel which should be matched to the growing population of the pigs has to be considered.
The Native Pig Research of ESSU has much success potentials with the sustained support of its Presidents, Dr. Edmundo A. Campoto, being also the research administrator and leader.
The success of this project will put the university in the research map of the country, and as an institution capable of developing technologies for the farmers in Eastern Samar and beyond.
