A SIGNIFICANT increase on the average prices of meat and poultry products, except pork, in Negros Occidental was noted from July to October this year.
The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) recorded an increase of P1.83 per kilogram of beef, and P3.22 and P1.66 per kilogram of chevon and dressed chicken, respectively.
For eggs, small size registered an increase of P0.02 per piece, and P0.22 on salted eggs. The PVO, though, noted a decrease of P0.01 and P0.09 per piece of medium and large eggs, respectively.
The price of pork, on the other hand, has significantly decreased by P14.95 per kilogram. From P218.50 in July, it dropped to P203.74 per kilogram in October this year, or lower by 6.84 percent.
Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena said the decrease on price of pork is attributed to the recent lean months that weakened the buying capacity of the consumers compared to the previous months.
Also, the African Swine Fever (ASF) in Luzon has created a “scare” to the consuming public despite the information and education campaign of the government that it is safe to eat pork, Decena said.
“The low demand on pork resulted in increase of available supply which eventually led to lower price of the commodity,” he added.
As this developed, the provincial government has implemented several measures to help the local swine raisers through one, expanding its marketing support.
The PVO has provided post-harvest facilities to local hog raisers associations and established linkages to buyers from neighboring provinces such as Cebu and Aklan.
In fact, the province was able to work on the shipment of pork from Negros Occidental beginning this month to meat shop chains in the province of Cebu.
It targets an average delivery of one container van per week.
Decena said commercial raisers will have a key role not only in meeting the demand but also in providing good quality pork to the consumers.
Also, the province is working on enabling backyard raisers to continue their shipment of live pigs to Cebu amid the strict quarantine regulations imposed by the provincial government there.
Decena said this is through the issuance of Backyard Swine Farm Certificate by the PVO in lieu of the farm registration from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
“The local backyard swine raisers had successfully shipped almost 2,000 heads of live pigs for the month of October,” he added.
The provincial veterinarian said a buyer from Cagayan De Oro will also use the slaughterhouse and cold storage in Kabankalan City. The buyer will regularly buy live pigs and process the same at the said slaughterhouse.
Decena said the PVO is expecting improvements on the price of pork for the upcoming holiday season.
The demand for pork products is expected to increase during this time, he pointed out.