Halal goat raisers in Surallah, South Cotabato are reaping the benefits of the six-month course, Farmer Livestock School on Halal Goat Enterprise Management (FLS-HGEM).
One participant, Mr. Dan C. Caliwagan, treasurer of the Halal Goat Raisers Association of Surallah has found the merit in attending the course four months into the program. Caliwagan has inched his way into halal goat production by finding a halal-compliant location for his goat farm on a slope about 200 meters from the Duengas barangay road and far from the nearest haram facility.
From 8 out of 18 kids dying prior to weaning, Caliwagan now experiences zero mortality rate in his farm. He started with 10 does at the start of the FLS, which grew to 35 goats, wherein 27 are does. As an application of what he learned from the course, Caliwagan built a goat house with a separate kidding room that eliminated trampling of the young. Moreover, he has adopted rotational grazing to avoid parasite infection. He now regularly cleans the pen, as manure that litters the pen is haram.
Caliwagan is a member of the Halal Goat Raisers Association of Surallah or HGRAS, an association of non-Muslim goat raisers living in Duengas, Surallah, South Cotabato. The members bonded as a group while they were mid-way through their FLS-HGEM course.
HGRAS members started with their FLS on April 5, 2022 and are expected to graduate this November 2022. They have tackled several modules of the course and are now selecting and testing technology mixes on halal goat production that are suited to their conditions and resource capabilities.
HGRAS has 30 members headed by its president, Mrs. Nesty Joy Vegafria. Currently, they have started drafting their by-laws and are initiating their registration with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Although the association members are non-Muslims, they all welcome the different technologies on halal goat production, for they know that halal goat is not only clean and wholesome but has an available market, especially in Mindanao.
The FLS-HGEM is an extension modality developed by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) in 2018. It is currently being rolled out by the Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) in region 12 under the Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D (NICER), a program funded by DOST.