PMD to commence commercialization in 2015

PMD to commence commercialization in 2015

from: http://www.pcaarrd.dost.gov.ph/home/ssentinel/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2282:pmd-to-commence-commercialization-in-2015&catid=50:in-the-news&Itemid=34 

Written by Alfred Ryenel M. Parungao, S&T Media ServiceFriday, 03 October 2014 13:35

Few years ago, the Philippine duck egg industry primarily represented by small farm entrepreneurs was on the verge of collapse. Primarily brought about by the wide variation of our duck genetic resources, the near breakdown became apparent   in terms of significant drop in duck layer inventory, closure of duck farms, unstable supply of duck eggs and erratic prices of duck egg products.

Providing the much needed science and technology intervention to address the above mentioned concern, PCAARRD and the DA-Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) launched the selection and breeding project aimed to develop and produce true-to-type Philippine Mallard duck (PMD) with predictable egg laying performance and product quality. The project is expected to improve the average egg production from 55% to 70% and achieve better product quality in terms of egg weight.

Private duck raisers are also engaged as cooperators of the project and encouraged to become future PMD multiplier farms to ensure sustainability and predictable quality of stocks made available in the market.

The project is being implemented at the National Swine and Poultry Research and Development Center- Bureau of Animal Industry (NSPRDC-BAI), Tiaong, Quezon. Farm trials are being conducted in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija. The project is expected to cover about 12% of the breeder requirement of Regions 3 and 4A and will be ready for roll-out in 2015.

The Progress…

After 2 years of implementation, the project has been able to establish selection and breeding protocols that focused on the evaluation of performance of the three phenotypic groups of PMD on the basis of body weight at 18 weeks (BW18); egg production at 40 weeks (EN40); and egg weight at 40 weeks of age (EW40).

Established measure for BW18 was 1.10-1.40 kg for drake and 1.10-1.40 kg for ducks. For EN40, the top 50% performers shall be selected. EW40 criterion selects hatching eggs not lower than 65 grams to be included for hatching.

In 2014, the project already established the phenotypic characteristics of the developed PMD foundation stocks. The black, brown and white PMD strains were already more than 80% uniform in terms of plumage (feather) color. In addition, the project was able to produce more than 32,000 hatching eggs from the second and third generation and from these, 8,000 heads were already distributed to 8 private cooperators for field performance evaluation.

The optimum in performance and commercialization

The on-farm laying performance of true-to-type black and brown pure lines as well as the on-station laying performance of its crosses will be available by 2015. If encouraging results will be demonstrated, the technology will be promoted for commercialization.  At this stage, private partners who signified early interest in breeding production are being trained on the principles of breeding and its applications.

The PMD selection and breeding project is an integral part of the PCAARRD’s duck industry strategic S&T program.