ISPSC mulled Ilocos goat breed center

By Freddie G. Lazaro

STA. MARIA, Ilocos Sur – The government has set the Sta. Maria campus of the Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College (ISPSC) as goat upgrading breed center in the Ilocos region following  groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a goat multiplier farm facility here last week.
    Agriculture Sec. William D. Dar led groundbreaking with ISPSC officials headed by Dr. Gilbert Arce and the Dept. of Agriculture (DA) Region 1 headed by regional executive director Nestor D. Domenden.
    Aside from the goat house, an artificial insemination center for goats, and a poultry house are included in the farm facility project with a total budget allocation amounting to P10 million.
    Meanwhile, construction of a poultry house inside the Sta. Maria campus of the ISPSC will serve as a venue for researches and production of egg-laying chicken. This is in line with Dar’s vision of making Sta. Maria as egg basket of Ilocos Sur in the future.
    “We have come up with this goat multiplier farm facility to make goat raising an industry and not just for backyard raising,” Dar said.
    Through the facility with partnership of the DA and ISPSC, the school will produce high-quality breeds of goat for distribution to the farmers in the different towns in Ilocos Sur and the whole region.
    “With the facility, the institution will produce students with best experiences and  knowledge that use modern technology to improve productivity of the goat industry,” he said.
    The facility, Dar said, will also be a venue for researches on cost-efficient goat production.
     “We should research on lowering the cost of goat production with efficient growth output for us to compete with other countries and to make our farmers and fisherfolks globally competitive,” he said. -- JCR/FGL, PIA 1