A Project proposal
Prepared by:
DON ENRICO G. CONCEPCION
Introduction
Establishing the Business
According to many in the province, a piggery business can turn into a full-blown high -income enterprise. In establishing the piggery business, one only needs a space to put up the pen and a small amount of capital to jumpstart the business. Some start it off as a hobby, like taking care of some pets. There are two ways to go about this: One is by purchasing a couple of piglets for fattening and two, by purchasing a gilt to establish a population of litters to sell as piglets.
Genetics play a major role in making the business thrive. It's important to get the best breed to produce high quality meat and healthy litters. Good genetics also will help in increasing profits by increasing efficiency and avoiding diseases that may affect the whole business.
Things to consider in establishing the piggery: Would we be making it big or a small time thing? Can we start it from scratch? How much will we spend? Can we raise enough money? How do we start it off? Are we going to do it by ourselves or hire help? How many people will we employ? Where and when will we put it up? Would we lease? Do we have a conceptual model of the business? Will we expand after making it good? To my opinion, we should learn every aspect of the piggery business, by researching thru PCARRD publications and do it hands on, that way; we could really know how the business works first hand and to be able to know the possible problems and how to go around them and find ways to improve everything. We also need to research market trends and market prices such as price of live weight and selling price of litters and cost of feeds, which feeds are appropriate for hens and production litters, also prices of medicines; farrowing aspects and conversion ratio efficiency. We should innovate to increase efficiency and cut down on production costs to increase profits.
The Location
The most suitable location for the piggery is far away from populated areas, the province is the best, the ensuing problem would be the marketing, its either the buyers will come to the piggery or we'll bring the pigs to market. The production area should be away from possible complaints due to the odor the piggery produce.
The area in Maligaya village is most suitable because of its proximity to the highway and people around to safe guard property. It's in the same area where Tita Bebot is doing her piggery business of her own. The area therefore the area can be shared with permission from the grannies.
The access to water will be the first priority. An artesian well will be set up in the appropriate location and waste disposal will be set up properly.
The Materials
and Equipment Needed
The materials to start up the piggery after locating the appropriate site will be the housing of the pigs. This can be made of cement and hollow blocks with steel bars and roofing could be made from galvanized roofing or local agricultural materials. Designs of different housing types should be researched. One innovation of housing I can suggest is for the waste disposal. The flooring for the pigs should have holes so as to allow dropping of their dung and a tray underneath to catch it. Pathways for waste- water to flow to an appropriate pond must be built to avoid a foul smell from occurring and thus keeping the pen healthy.
A tank of water positioned high up would provide water pressure for cleaning the pigs and their pen. A water- spout for the pig's drinking must be put in place to avoid wastage of water; a feeding tray for the pigs as well to prevent wastage. Additional feeds from agricultural products must be formulated as adlibidum feed for added feed and conserve on expensive commercial feeds.
Their waste must be dump in a pit for composting or probable biogas production. A small vegetable garden can be put up to use the compost produce. Planting of various alternative feeds near the location would minimize time in procuring these feeds for adlibidum feeding.
An additional hobby can be put up aside from the piggery to augment income by raising native chickens or quail, mushroom production and goats for goat cheese production.
If the area is large enough, we can plant some fruit trees that would make income in the long run. These can be Sinta papaya, Guaple, Guyabano and Big Atis. These bear fruit regularly and can provide extra income.
A closed shed with lock should be built to provide storage of feeds. Feeds should be calculated and purchased in bulk and stored in the shed. A water tank is needed for various purposes. A big plastic water tank at the height equal to the top of the pen would be sufficient for the pigs water needs. An automatic water- spout for their drinking would be a good design.
Financing
One method of financing could be acquiring a loan through micro financing. Other types of loans are too uneconomical and most of them require collateral of real estate property, specifically a titled lot.
Pooling our money together would do. An amount of 10,000 pesos would do, taking for granted labor cost, considering personal management.
Income Potential
The income potential is very good they say. You will definitely profit. The market is good and demand is high. There is always a demand and different ways to make money out of the pig carcass such as processed meat, which is the high earner. If you have a gilt for litter production, the income potential increases, the number of litters is high and selling price would definitely make profits. The demand for litters is always high. There is no problem in selling piglets. The gestation period of the sow is quite long but as long as the number of litters is high, you would not fail. The sow can keep producing litter for many years. Multiplying income potential can be done by raising pigs for fattening and by selling processed meat. Processed meat has its advantages too. It can store for a long time and prices are high for good income.
Cost and Operating Expenses
There is a minimum cost in the management. The most expensive cost in production is the feeds. The return on investment is high because of the price per live weight. As long as the feed conversion ratio of the pigs are good to high, at current live weight buying prices, you will make a profit. Increasing number of pigs for fattening will increase income. There are other ways to make money from pig carcass such as processed meat. This is the big money maker.
The cost of vaccines and other medicines is minimal. You will just have to wait till the pigs grow to an appropriate size before marketing.
My brother has a sow about to farrow; we can purchase the litters for fattening at 1,200 each, let's make sure there are females. That way we can acquire a high quality genetic line because the gilt came from a breeder line. We can also purchase litters that are female and make them as sow in the future, we just have to select and or purchase a good boar with good traits. We avoid middlemen and have the advantage of a known genetic quality line.
Feasibility Computation
The current price of live weight per kilo is from 52-57 pesos as of August 2002. Feeds costing 550 pesos per bag for fattening feeds and requires 6 bags for 8 piglets for fattening, takes 4 months to fatten for an ideal weight.
For a sow to produce 10 litters, the gilt would cost 6,500 pesos and to be impregnated by a boar for 500 pesos. Gestation would take long roughly 6 months (???). You have to fatten the gilt to its reproductive stage. One advantage of having a sow is that it can bear litters for many years and have abundant supply of piglets to sell for fattening.
Possible Problems and Recommendations
The most possible problem that can arise is not being given permission to operate in the same lot that Tita Bebot is doing her piggery business. That would most likely halt the project. Another possible scenario is lack of funding, financing problems or partners change their minds. No capital to start the piggery is the hard part. Lack of buyers and low price of live weight is one reason.
Locating market for the pigs must be address before starting the piggery. Knowledge of meat processing is a must and access to PCARRD publications must be done immediately. These must be known I order to decide whether to go into this or expand.
Marketing
Strategy
Its better to contact the buyer before hand and only transact business when the pigs are about to be sold, to avoid middlemen. It's also best to have a trusted buyer and a predetermined selling price.
In the procurement of feeds, it's best to calculate first the amount of feeds to be used for the whole batch and purchase the feeds in bulk and stored near the pen for easy access. The storage should also have a lock to prevent pilferage.
If price of live weight is not high, it's best to slaughter the fattened pigs yourself and cut up the carcass and processes the meat. There are a variety of ways to processes meat, there is tocino, longanisa, sausages and bacon and ham. Processed meat is expensive and can have a huge income. It can also stay longer in cold storage.
The Future
In the future we can lease adjacent land or make satellite operation in Pundaquit where there is minimal populace that can smell the piggery. We just have to provide transportation and make it into a larger scale operation. With good bearing sows, we can establish a big population of fattening pigs. At this time, we should also have our own boar population. We can have the option of marketing piglets for fattening or gilts. We also have the option of selling fattened pigs in volume for processed meat or lechon. If price of live weight is not good, we can always butcher the fattened pigs and sell them as processed meat. There is a high demand for it and the price is very good. Processed meat can rage from pork chops, spareribs, bacon, ham, sausages, pork loin, tocino, longganisa and others. We can have our own outlets of processed meat and can sell them wholesale to groceries and supermarkets with good packaging of course. We should have a brand at this time. Establishing a brand would help and competitive pricing as well. We can also make deliveries or have a small meat shop in every community to have steady market.
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