In an effort to ensure a smooth and continued operation, Ilocandia Feeds officials has sought the establishment of an exclusive trust fund for the proceeds of the Marcos Feed Mill located in Marcos, Ilocos Norte.

The feed mill began its test-run operation in January of this year with the Ilocos Norte provincial government providing the initial operational fund of P1.5 million. The said fund was sourced from the provincial development fund.

In its seven weeks of test operation, the Marcos Feed Mill produced an estimated 1,087 bags.

The provincial government has formed a Project Management Office (PMO) for the said feed mill which would be tasked to run day-to-day operations and in identifying lapses and problems encountered during the test-run period.

PMO officer-in-charge Loida Chee of the Provincial Veterinarian’s Office (PVet) reported that on April 4 that out of the 1,087 bags produced by the feed mill in its two-month test operations, an estimated 63 percent of which had been sold, with the remaining 37 percent still available at the feed mill.

Chee also said that a nutrition analysis conducted by nutrition experts from the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Region I, the pellet-type feeds produced by the Marcos Feed Mill was given a “high standard quality.”

The DA experts finding was further verified when the feed mill officials also sought the expertise of the pioneering feed mill established in Region II to validate the result of the Marcos Feed Mill’s initial production.

Meanwhile, Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) member Da Vinci M. Crisostomo sponsored a draft provincial ordinance seeking the approval of the feed mill ordinance.

Crisostomo’s proposal however was shelved by the SP to give way for further study of the proposal and to invite a representative of the Provincial Capitol’s special projects office, which is directly involved in the feed mill project, to give more details about the provincial government-owned enterprise.

The Marcos Feed Mill was first conceptualized during the final term of former Ilocos Norte Representative Simeon M. Valdez in 1997 wherein the DA appropriated an estimated P40 million for the said project. However because of the financial crisis that hit Asia in the same year, the project was shelved and it was only during the early part of this year that the feed mill went on its test operations which was later declared as successful by the PMO.

Presently, the Marcos Feed Mill is providing cheaper and locally produced feeds for Ilocos Norte farmers.

Leilanie G. Adriano