ILOILO City – Production of carabao, cattle, hog, and goat in the third quarter of this year has dropped, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released on Wednesday, Dec. 4, showed.
In its report, the PSA said carabao production declined by 5.8 percent when compared to the figures listed in the same period a year ago, registering at 4,281 metric tons.
Cattle production also recorded a decrease of 4.6 percent, or a production of 4,206 metric tons, compared to the previous year’s production of 4,408 metric tons.
Moreover, production of hogs, estimated at 24,743 metric tons, slid by 25.3 percent against the production of 33,110 metric tons in the third quarter of 2023, while goat production decreased by 20.9 percent, or from 1,656 metric tons in 2023 to 1,310 metric tons this year.
In terms of slaughtered carabaos and hogs, lesser number was recorded. PSA said in the third quarter, about 10,234 heads of carabaos were slaughtered in slaughterhouses across Western Visayas – a 11.6 percent drop from 1,341 heads from the same period last year.
Likewise, 171,389 heads of hogs were slaughtered, or a decline of 21.5 percent from the previous year of the same quarter.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental contributed half of the region’s livestock inventory.
As of October 1, carabao inventory was recorded at 226,245 heads in the region, with Negros Occidental and Iloilo sharing 36.3 percent and 29.9 percent, respectively.
Cattle inventory was estimated at 216,986 heads, of which 60,026 heads or 27.7 percent were from Negros Occidental.
Also, of the 362,425 heads of goats in the region, 56.3 percent are from Negros Occidental. The second top contributor was Iloilo Province, recording 77,631 heads at 21.4 percent./PN
