DA, Capitol mull “Babuyang Walang Amoy”

“I finished a degree in Bachelor of Science in Education, but my heart belongs to agriculture,” shared Precila Obrero, one of the attendees of the recently concluded training on sustainable pig farming.

Obrero, together with other 29 animal growers, attended the Sustainable Pig Farming Training conducted by the Department of Agriculture Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center V (DA-ATI RTC) and the provincial government, through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturists (OPA). The training was held to promote a pig farming method called “Babuyang Walang Amoy”.

The Babuyang Walang Amoy Information Center of Pro Natural Feed Corporation, located in Baao, is an odor-free and easy-to-manage farm where pigs are raised in an environment that mimics their natural habitat.

Participants were encouraged to establish a Babuyang Walang Amoy so that they will be qualified as beneficiaries to the swine distribution program of DA-ATI RTC. Apart from this, the training was held to help the participants learn more on farm management and proper breeding of pigs. Four modules were discussed in the three-day training on swine production, namely, the concepts of sustainable pig farming, cultural management of growing pigs using sustainable practices, preparation of various natural feedstuffs concoctions, and ethno-veterinary medicine in swine raising.

Obrero has been into pig farming for years already. However, she attended the training because she wanted to learn more techniques in managing swine and how it can be sustainable. “I have two children. They are now in their adolescence stage, so I decided to stay home and take care of them. Our backyard piggery has been a big help in raising our children, since pig production is really profitable. At the same time, my pigs are like my adopted children, so whenever my kids are in school, I am busy taking good care of them,” she added.

“For me, the highlight of the training was the visitation in the Babuyang Walang Amoy. I have a backyard piggery, but it is not like the one that we visited in Baao because mine is fully cemented. In the future, I am planning to establish that kind of pig farm too so that my piggery will be odorless and neighbor-friendly as well,” she also said.

DA-ATI RTC V and OPA aim to promote this method of pig farming because, aside from being sustainable for the environment and for the community, it also produces safe and healthy meat.