Swine output up in Q3 despite ASF
Credit to Author: Eireene Jairee Gomez| Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:16:10 +0000
DESPITE the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the country that saw countless pigs culled in Luzon and demand for pork products plunge, hog production grew in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In its “Swine Situation Report,” the statistics agency said swine output increased by 2 percent to 551,620 metric tons (MT) in the July-to-September period from 541,030 MT in the same period last year.
Eleven regions recorded production increases in the three months. In terms of growth, Region 4A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces, or Calabarzon) registered the highest at 8.4 percent. In terms of volume, Region 3 (Central Luzon) leads with 102,920 MT, followed by Calabarzon with 96,740 MT from 89,260 MT year-on-year, and Region 6 (Western Visayas) with 46.470 MT.
The three regions make up 44.6 percent of total hog production, the PSA said.
Total swine inventory as of October 1 was estimated at 13.01 million heads, nearly 1 percent lower than last year’s 13.13 million.
“In backyard farms, swine inventory at 8.20 million heads decreased by 1.7 percent from the previous year’s count of 8.34 million heads. On the other hand, stocks in commercial farms at 4.81 million heads increased by 0.6 percent from the previous year’s level of 4.78 million heads,” the agency said.
The average farmgate price of live hogs from July to September fell by 10.2 percent to P103.66 per kilo from P115.40 per kilo a year ago.
During the quarter, the highest average farmgate price was noted in July at P106.02 per kilo and the lowest in in September at P100.80 per kilo.
A total of 461 villages have been affected by the ASF, which first emerged in Rizal in July, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry.
So far, about 70,000 pigs had been culled or depopulated to contain the spread of ASF.