MAFAR ADMINISTERS TRAINING ON ANIMAL HEALTH MANAGEMENT
COTABATO CITY- More than 60 technical personnel composed of MMOs, Agriculturists I, Agricultural Technologists (ATs), and Field Assistants of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform from the 36 municipalities of Maguindanao and Special Geographic Areas (SGA) undertook training on animal health management.
On September 7-8, the two-day activity was spearheaded by the Quarantine Section under the Research and Regulatory Division led by Dr. Raheima A. Mangindra, Veterinarian III.
The purpose of the said training is to train technicians on animal health in the field, such as identification of animals with disease and what to do should there be an outbreak in their assigned areas, get acquainted with regulations related to animal health, how to process clearance certificate and its movement. What samples must be submitted, where to send them, and awareness of insurance livestock mortality.
Chief of Operations for Agriculture Services Saudi D. Mangindra, Ph.D., said, “We would like to extend our gratefulness to MAFAR Research and Regulatory Division and Resource Persons from USM, Kabacan by sharing their utmost and selfless knowledge to Maguindanao.
He emphasizes to the Extensionists that as the administration of BARMM is new, this training is very important and that there is a need to strengthen animal health, especially since there are cases when the mortality of our animals can’t be avoided, hence the need to intensify our advocacy and work on the ground by informing and educating especially our farmers so that they would know MAFAR has program when it comes to animal health.
As Ag I, MMOs, and ATs, this will be an excellent task for you, and I hope you will be able to grasp, learn, and focus on this training”, he added.
Meanwhile, Disumimba D. Rasheed, Assistant to the Provincial Director for Special Geographic Areas and Cotabato City, said “We often watch about animal health management on social media, and in relation to our training today, there are regulations, RAs, diseases, etc.
He said this training is timely and important because we need it, especially our technicians, as we humbly admit that we are still not technically equipped.
For our participants, I urge everyone to please focus and listen carefully. By doing it, our training will be worth it, and you will be technically equipped to face the challenges in your respective fields, and MAFAR programs can be achieved successfully, he stressed.
Some of the invited Resource Persons, both specialists and experts from the University of Southern Mindanao (USM, Kabacan), Dr. AP Warren P. Adamat, Faculty/College Extension Coordinator, Dr. Vrenelle II D. Flores, Associate Professor I, Dr. Riza T. Navaluna, Poultry Specialist and they discussed Ruminant Diseases and their Management, Zoonotic Animal Disease.