Comparative Case Analysis of Pateros Duck at Itik Pinas Duck Farms in Laguna and Batangas

Date

12-2016

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rachelle A. Mariano

Abstract

Duck production in the Philippines remain largely at a backyard level. Given that the animals are resilient and are adaptable to the local environment, farmers rely on these backyard farms to provide for their families. As such, they do their best to provide quality products to be sold to their customers. One of the most prolific duck-producing places in the past was the city of San Pedro in the province of Laguna. Composed mostly of backyard farmers, the city was once one of the strongest duck producing cities in the province along with Victoria during the 1970s to 1990s. However, recent developments like industrial conversion and urbanization along with lake degradation have whittled down the number of duck farms and farmers in the city, from around a hundred during its peak to only 11 registered backyard farmers in 2016. Farmers have had to adapt to the changing environment but have not been able to maximize duck profitability in current times, even with the development of high-quality feeds for their animals. Certain factors limit the returns that they are able to get from their business. These factors include inconsistent production and quality of duck eggs, due to lack of uniformity in duck color and size.

In hopes to address these limitations faced by duck farmers in the whole country, the Itik Pinas was developed in 2012. The Itik Pinas is a new breed of duck developed by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development-Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARD) which possesses greater egg laying-capabilities than the predominantly-used Pateros Duck, also known locally as itik. The former lays approximately 50 more eggs in a year than the latter, which would equate to larger financial returns. It was thus surmised that it was necessary to determine how to address the problems in the quality and quantity of production that backyard farmers in San Pedro face and to test whether the new breed or the same breed but with better managerial practices would be able to help with the problems. The study aims to; 1) Identify and present the farms using one of the two breeds, 2) compare the Pateros Duck and Itik Pinas farms in terms of business performance, 3) Identify the constraints, problems and challenges that the farmers encounter and 4) Provide feasible recommendations to address the identified problems.

A total of 11 Pateros Duck farmers from San Pedro and 2 Itik Pinas farmers in Calamba, Laguna and Santo Tomas, Batangas were identified by the researcher after consultation with the San Pedro Municipal Agricultural Office and BAI-NSPRDC, and interviewed in the study. They were asked about their daily operations and the problems that they encounter in the business. Both groups of farmers noted the resiliency of the ducks as positive points in duck-raising. Almost all of them did not feed their animals with vitamins and fed them with both commercial and natural feeds. Both of the Pateros Duck and Itik Pinas farmers considered unfavorable weather as the major threat for their enterprises. For Pateros Duck farmers, unfavorable weather resulted to low production. On the other hand, Itik Pinas farmers had challenges with selling their products during adverse weather conditions. Meanwhile, the problems faced by the farmers were on production for the Pateros Duck farmers and employee work for Itik Pinas farmers. Pateros Duck farmers found difficulty maintaining product quality with variable egg sizes. They did not process the eggs further and had no other product lines. The Itik Pinas farmers identified substandard employee performance as the most challenging aspect of their business. With their employees’ low-quality work, the other aspects of the business become affected.

The Pateros Duck farmers were all backyard farmers. The largest farm had 750 ducks while the smallest, 40. The volume of eggs produced by the respondents had a wide variability, as a maximum of 10,000 eggs per month was produced by the biggest egg producing-farm while 150 eggs per month by the smallest farm. On the other hand, the two Itik Pinas farmers had 1,300 and 600 heads of Itik Pinas respectively. These farms also used Pateros ducks but the researcher focused only on the farms’ production of the new breed and the impact they had on the business functions. These farms produced a substantial amount of eggs, producing more than 18,000 eggs a month on the average. This shows the difference between a Pateros Duck and Itik Pinas in terms of egg-laying capacity. The sheer quantity of eggs enabled the Itik Pinas farmers to develop various duck egg products (e.g. balut, penoy, salted egg, etc.), along with earning more income per duck, with Pateros Duck farmers earning a monthly average of P76.11 and Itik Pinas farmers earning P89.47. Using SWOT Analysis, it was determined that the use of the new breed over the regular itik would truly help farmers with regards to addressing the low quality and variable quantity of products. If Itik Pinas is used for egg production, the quantity that would be produced would allow farmers to have a larger amount of eggs to sell and/or to process further. This development would further help them gain more income from the business.

Language

English

LC Subject

Duck industry

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2016 M17 S38

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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