Bio-economic Model of Halal Goat Production System based on Experimentally Comparing Feeding with Madre de Cacao and/or with IPIL-IPIL (Maguindanao Province, Philippines)

Abstract

The study was conducted to develop a bio-economic model of Halal goat production in Maguindanao, Philippines to serve as model to Muslim and non-Muslim goat raisers. Nineteen viable cooperatives in the province of Maguindanao were chosen as beneficiaries of the program. Model development, validation and use were done  by adopting the STELLA version 4.0.1 computer software program. Interventions derived from the model were tested in the field.  Experimental goats were stalled in pens, subjected under two treatments and a Control, and replicated in a completely randomized design. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and standard deviation were used.  Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 1% confidence level was also employed to determine the degree of significance of the observed differences among treatments. A total of eighteen (18) Halal goats with weight ranging from 10.0 – 11.0 kg were used in the field test. They were stall-fed for 90 days with the following treatments: Control (100% Guinea grass), Treatment 2 (50% Guinea grass + 50% Madre de cacao), and Treatment 3 (50% Guinea grass + 25% Ipil-ipil + 25% Madre de cacao). Water and granulated salt were also provided. Dry matter, total digestible nutrients and crude protein contents of Guinea grass, Madre de cacao and Ipil-ipil used in the feeding experiment were analyzed in the laboratory adopting the AOAC method. Growth was determined based on average daily gain in weight among experimental goats. Experimental animals subjected to Treatment 3 performed better than those in the Control and Treatment 2. Results reveal that a combination of Guinea grass, Ipil-ipil and Madre de cacao is still the most practical option in intensive goat feeding management. The study also proved that baseline model developed could be used as tool for Halal goat production system in the province of Maguindanao. Thus, modelling can be used to reduce number of treatments and built-in cost associated with the experimentation.