June 5th 2006, MANILA PHILLIPINES: Overseas residents of Alcala are contributing money among themselves to build a feed mill for their townmates back home.
Mayor Manuel Collado said many of the donors were among those who attended the Grand Homecoming in Alcala sometime in April during their town fiesta in honor of their patron, the Holy Cross.
These people also bankrolled Alcala's quest for the longest grill and longest barbecue held last April 30 for the Guinness Book of World Records.
The feed mill will be used during the harvest of corn and palay not only from Alcala but also from adjacent towns of Bautista and Bayambang.
The feed mill will be put up on a lot to be donated by the municipal government, Collado said.
A feasibility study for the project is now being prepared by the municipal government and is now likewise organizing a cooperative that will soon manage and operate the feed mill.
Collado said overseas Alcala residents, based in the United States, Canada and Europe, are contributing U.S 1,000 to 10,000 dollars each for the purchase of the feed mill.
They chose feed mill as their initial project to donate not only because Alcala is a big producer of corn and rice but also because there are so many farmers raising pigs in their backyards.
Collado said with corn and rice bran already available, they will only have to source out fish meal from Dagupan City or Lingayen in order to produce feeds.
With the feed mill, the mayor said, they can lower the price of feeds being bought by local feed raisers, thus eventually enhancing livestock raising in the town.
Aside from this, they are also studying the feasibility of bankrolling the acquisition of a processing plant for dried mangoes, to also make use of the abundant harvest of mangoes by their town mates.
Their plan is to have the feel mill run by a cooperative and whatever profit it will derive, it will be shared by it and the municipal government to finance other allied socio-economic projects.
