BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson of Negros Occidental opposed the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) plan to increase poultry imports amid a supply glut in local market.
Lacson expressed apprehension over the reported advice of the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to “limit” local poultry production while it maintained that there is no need to suspend importation.
“We are joining the local poultry raisers and agripreneurs in opposing the move of BAI to limit the local production and increase the volume of imported chicken,” Lacson said.
“This is contradictory. How can we revive the economy, one of which is to buy our own local product,” the governor added. “We even have oversupply of chicken now.”
On Friday, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto also slammed the agency’s move.
“The farm sector is the economy’s savior and safety net, and a job generator amidst massive layoffs. The only way for the food industry to absorb the unemployed is for it to increase and not decrease its yield,” Recto pointed out.
On its May 21 report to the Senate, the DA said that chicken supply will last for a minimum of 160 days and a maximum of 314 days. Self-sufficiency level was estimated to be 136 percent at the minimum, while 183 percent at most.
In Negros Occidental, unbranded chicken are sold at P99 per kilo at the supermarkets showing enough supply./PN
