ILOILO City – A total of 42,850 swine heads valued at around P625.3 million have been transported to the National Capital Region (NCR) as of Feb. 25.
There is a dearth of hogs – and therefore a dip in pork and pork products – in the NCR due to the African swine fever (ASF) crippling Luzon’s hog industry.
According to Dr. Jonic Natividad, Regulatory Division chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region 6, a live hog can weigh 95 kilograms at the average with P155 as recommended price per kilo.
“The biggest volume of hogs came from the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Antique,” Natividad revealed.
Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry – Veterinary Quarantine Service showed Iloilo province having the biggest volume of hogs shipped to the NCR since January (24,066), followed by Negros Occidental (7,355), Antique (5,606), Aklan (3,830), Guimaras (1,280), and Capiz (713).
DA-6 director Remelyn Recoter said hog shipments were among the initiatives of the agency to “allay soaring prices of pork and by-products” in the NCR because of the ASF outbreak in Luzon.
Recoter added that shipments from the region were part of the “whole-of-nation” measures to revive the hog industry and reduce pork prices.
Meanwhile, Natividad assured Western Visayans that the region’s supply of hogs remains sufficient despite huge shipments to the NCR and other parts of the country.
In January, the region’s swine population was estimated at 1.2 million, said Natividad.
In terms of livestock backyard raisers, Western Visayas remains No. 1 in the country, he added.
The region, still ASF-free, has a P20-billion hog industry, 80 percent of which are backyard hog raisers./PN
