The Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office noted a significant drop in pig importation in August this year.
Provincial Veterinarian Dr. Placeda Lemana said Monday, September 11, that in July, about 10,000 pigs were shipped out from the province, while only 3,000 heads were imported in August, noting a significant drop in a span of one month.
She explained that the reason for the drop is due to
the cancellation of the Certificate of Free Status (CFS) for African swine fever (ASF) by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
She said that the cancellation was made by BAI after Hinigaran town registered an ASF case and was categorized under the red zone, while the neighboring localities were classified under the pink zone.
The CFS for these areas is still cancelled, Lemana said.
Lemana also assured a sufficient supply of pigs and pork in the province if commercial and backyard raisers would not bring the supplies outside the province.
"We cannot expect our hog raisers not to sell pigs and pork outside [the province] because buyers there offer good price compared to the local buyers," she stressed.
Meanwhile, PVO reported that based on their monitoring, price of pork right now in the province is pegged from P285 to P290 per kilo, while liveweight buying is pegged at P175 to P185 per kilo for commercial and from P165 to P175 per kilo for backyard raisers.*