Hog Industry Recovery by 2023 Under DA’s Three-year Initiative

On Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said it expects the local hog industry to fully recover by 2023. The goal is to return the hog population back to its pre-African Swine Flu (ASF) numbers.

The DA already has initiatives lined up under its ₱27-billion hog repopulation program said Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Coupled with the government’s recent state of calamity declaration over ASF, achieving the forecasted recovery in 2023 remains optimistic.

The ASF vaccine has also entered trials in different affected areas across the country making the DA hopeful of repopulating hogs with higher success rates, said Dar.

A total of 440,563 breeders, or 142% of the total breeders lost due to ASF, is targeted to be produced under the three-year hog repopulation program. Since the first case that was reported in September 2019, ASF has cut around 332,928 breeders.

“The government initiative will bring us 225,103 breeders and from private-led initiative 215,460 breeders,” said Dar.

Approximately 115,800 farmers will be beneficiaries of the program which will later be clustered into 2,100 groups, Dar added.

An additional ₱6.6 billion is still required to complete the ₱27 billion funds needed by the DA for the three-year initiative.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation 1143 on Tuesday, placing the country under a state of calamity for one year due to ASF unless earlier lifted or extended.

Dar explained that the declaration will allow local government units (LGUs), particularly those in ASF areas, to set part of their calamity fund aside for quick ASF-relate response.

Within the private sector, The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) and the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (Pampi) have both expressed gratitude and support for the recent declaration in line with the industry’s recovery.

Source: The Manila Times