The Department of Agriculture (DA) has supplied P500,000 biogas digester plant to the Lamac Multipurpose Cooperative (LMPC) last August 26, 2020. The LMPC as a farmer cooperative will manage the maintenance and operations of the biodigester. Ten farmer-households in Pinamungajan, Cebu were initially identified by the LMPC as the direct project beneficiaries.
DA7 Livestock program coordinator Dr. Zeam Voltair E. Amper bared that these households will only pay to the LMPC approximately P200-300 a month for the unlimited supply of biogas for their household cooking. Regional Technical Director of DA7 Marina T. Hermoso shared that this project is part of the commitment of Agriculture Secretary William Dar on food security and sustainable agriculture. “This is a single step in attaining sustainable livestock farming in the region,” Hermoso said.
Dr. Amper said that the biogas digester plant will utilize and convert animal waste (fecal matter) into a renewable energy and biofertilizer that will supply ten households living within the project area. “The fecal matter will be deposited in a digester which takes 21 days to process into methane gas by the microorganism,” Amper explained.
The biogas technology promotes the ‘waste-to-energy’ program of the Bureau of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture that can be easily adopted by the small and medium-scale farmers of the country.