Legazpi City, a financial grant of PHP100 million to PHP240 million is expected to be received from the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP). This funding will be utilized for constructing a poultry dressing plant (PDP), an initiative aimed at generating additional income for the city.
According to Philippines News Agency, Chief of the City Veterinarian Office, the documentation and requisites set by the PRDP, as required by the World Bank, are being prepared. The PRDP's grant amount will depend on the city government's feasibility project proposal. Estipona stated that the budgetary requirements for the PDP project would be submitted this month, with the grant expected to be released by the World Bank to the Department of Agriculture and then to the city government before the year's end.
The project originated during a meeting with the Albay Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Council (PAFC), which emphasized the importance of establishing a PDP in Legazpi. The PDP, first of its kind in the Bicol region, will be constructed on a 6,000-square-meter lot owned by the city in Barangay Taysan. It will include a building for the PDP, multiplier farm for improved native chicken, hatchery, incubator machines, and fish mill buildings.
Sally Christy, the PRDP's focal person for the PDP project in Legazpi, conducted orientation for the Legazpi Livestock Poultry Raisers Agriculture Cooperative (LLPRAC) and other members of farmers' cooperatives and associations (FCA). The LLPRAC will be responsible for distributing the native chickens produced by the hatchery to FCA members for a contract growing scheme. This project aims to provide butchering and dressing services for independent broilers across the Bicol region, thus enhancing revenue generation for the city government.