EXCEPT for Siquijor, the rest of Central Visayas is pork sufficient, a top official of the Department of Agriculture 7 said.
DA 7 Director Salvador Diputado said Central Visayas is 100 percent self-sufficient in pork production and it has 15 percent excess in production, which makes it viable for the region to supply the pork requirements of Metro Manila.
“We don’t have any shortage. There is only a slight problem in Siquijor, but their needs are being supplied by Negros Oriental,” he told SunStar Cebu.
Diputado said the region’s pork volume from January to December 2020 reached 140,066.88 metric tons.
He said the region will continue to supply Manila’s requirement upon the request of DA Secretary William Dar.
Central Visayas supplied a total of 23,302 heads to Metro Manila from October to December 2020.
However, Diputado reiterated that the region’s local consumption remains a priority.
“Secretary Dar asked for help because the situation of the market in Manila also represents the market of the Philippines. So even if our market here is sufficient but there it isn’t, it’ll get emphasized,” he said.
The DA 7 chief said the pork shortage problem stemmed from the African swine fever (ASF). Prices of pork products in Manila have gone up due to the supply issue caused by the ASF.
Agriculture advocacy group Sinag was quoted in the same report as saying that the African swine fever has affected 70 percent of pork supply in Luzon, prompting buyers to source from Mindanao and the Visayas.
The local hog industry has so far lost a total of P56 billion to ASF in the whole country.
To date, 25 of the 81 provinces have been affected by ASF with almost 350,000 pigs culled since the ASF outbreak in the country in September 2019, the agency said.
Aside from livestock and pork, the DA 7 said there is also a request to send vegetables to Metro Manila.
“Metro Manila has its own supply. But because of the typhoons and other external factors, it might face a slight shortage. Here, if we have surplus, we encourage suppliers to ship it to Metro Manila,” he said. / JOB