Power Crisis Hits Agri Bad OVER 50% OF MANOK PiNOY EGGS DAMAGED DUE TO LONG BROWNOUT

By Manny Pinol

The long daily brownout caused by the power crisis is not only affecting big business.

It is also hitting farmers like me very hard.

Since the start of the 6 to 8 hour brownouts in North Cotabato, we have been losing about 50% of the eggs we place in our electric incubators for hatching.

The fertility of the eggs is at a high 80 to 90 per cent upon candling period, that is the time when the individual eggs are placed against the light bulbs to determine if the eggs have live embryos inside it.

On the 18th day, the fertilized eggs are transferred to the hatchery where the chicks will get out of their shell starting on the 20th to the 21st day.

Over the last few weeks, however, we have losing a lot of our fertilized eggs because the chicks are not vigorous enough to break their shells.

We trace the problem to the inconsistent voltage which our improvised generator. Since it is a belt-driven generator made out of a truck engine it is producing a fluctuating power supply to the incubator.

My cousin, Marvin Magbanua who is in charge of the poultry operations in the farm said, the automatic turners of the electric incubators were affected by the fluctuating voltage..

This could be the main reason why the chicks are weak inside the shell because the heat inside the incubator during the long brownouts is not enough to complete the incubation process.

We were forced to acquire on credit a huge silent type incubator to stop the egg losses and increase the chick production.

But a great damage has been done because for a small poultry farmer like me 200 to 300 unhatched eggs every week is a huge financial loss.

The power crisis affects the ordinary Filipino that even a farmer who produces backyard free-range chicken is suffering the brunt of the problem.

The sad thing is our government officials seem not to be concerned.

(Photo caption: My son, Imman, feeds a batch of Manok PiNoy chicks estimated at 500. Without the long brownouts, this yard should have at least 1,000 chicks.)