THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is pushing for the crafting of development roadmaps for the poultry and livestock industry as well as for the fishery and aquatic sector.
The roadmap, which will set the needs, priorities, and government interventions for these industry groups, will be under a five-year plan for the poultry and livestock, while it will a 10-year roadmap for fisheries and aquatic.
In a statement issued last week, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said he wants to include credit facilities for farmers as well as adequate and effective bio-security programs like laboratories that could be funded with the DA’s 2019 budget.
The plan came a month after the avian influenza virus (bird flu) affected the poultry industry in Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, which led to the culling of at least 400,000 birds.
Initially, Piñol started a dialogue with poultry and livestock raisers last Sept. 13 in the DA head office.
In the same dialogue, DA said Piñol committed to help poultry farmers market their products with a program “to ensure fair farmgate price for poultry products following complaints that live birds are still being sold at P20 to P30 a kilo while market prices for dressed chicken has reached P120-P130 per kilo.”
By October, DA is also expected to convene members of the fishery and aquatic sector for a 10-year roadmap. (JOG)