BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) of Negros Occidental is blaming the recent hike in egg prices to high inflation.
PVO officer-in-charge, Dr. Placeda Lemana, revealed the price of eggs in primary markets here is between P9.50 and P10 for the extra large.
The increase was a “domino effect” of recent price increases on basic goods and the high inflation, Lemana explained.
Egg producers in the province were lamenting that prices of raw materials and supplements needed for raising layers also increased, she added.
Lemana clarified, however, that there is no problem with the supply of eggs in the province and even in the whole Western Visayas, citing the recent report of the Department of Agriculture in Region 6.
Negros Occidental is producing at least 1.2 million eggs a day, which is more than sufficient to meet the province’s daily requirement.
Data from the PVO showed that Negros Occidental consumes 900,000 to one million eggs a day.
Lemana said with the excess in the supply, layer farms in the province also supply eggs to other provinces while Negros Occidental also brings in eggs from the neighboring Bantayan Island in Cebu.
Last month, some 7.4 million eggs were brought in from Bantayan Island while 1.7 million eggs were produced in Negros Occidental from Jan. 7 to 13 this year. (With reports from the Philippine News Agency)/PN
