Poultry and Swine Industries Expect Positive Growth

According to the Department of Agriculture, the swine and poultry sectors are predicted to experience positive growth in the next quarters with animal disease cases in the Philippines on a downward trend.

Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said that only a few areas are reporting African Swine Fever (ASF) cases. “We’re seeing [a positive growth] because the livestock and poultry subsectors are continuously recovering,” he says.

Back in 2019, a campaign was launched to combat the highly-contagious ASF after an outbreak. At this time, around 3,000 heads were culled to contain the virus.

With this, the Philippines’ swine population lessened by around 3 million hogs and cost over ₱100 billion in losses, and caused retail prices of pork to increase.

Then President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of calamity nationwide “to curtail the further spread of ASF, address the supply deficit in pork products, reduce retail prices, and jump-start the rehabilitation of the local hog industry.”

Based on the Bureau of Animal Industry’s (BAI) latest report, only five regions have active ASF cases from the before count of 14 regions. The regions still with ASF include Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, Soccsksargen, Zamboanga Peninsula, and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The Department of Agriculture has allocated ₱4.1 billion for hog repopulation and ₱1.2 billion to eradicate the animal disease. National Livestock Program (NLP) Director, Ruth Miclat-Sonaco has stated that 2023 would have a bigger budget for fighting ASF.

De Mesa has mentioned that containing avian influenza was more difficult than when it was first detected in the Philippines back in 2017.

Source: Inquirer