In its continuing efforts to revive the country’s hog industry gravely affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF), the Duterte administration through the Department of Agriculture (DA) is partnering with the private sector to produce needed swine breeders to jumpstart and sustain the government’s hog repopulation program.
Last weekend, Agriculture Secretary William Dar led the groundbreaking of a 5,000-sow level breeder nucleus farm, of JG Agroventures, Inc. and Pig Improvement Company (PIC), in Barangay Sta.Rita, Quezon, Nueva Ecija.
Once operational, the state-of-the-art facility will be stocked with PIC great grandparent (GGP) breeders, whose offsprings or grandparent (GP) piglets will be sold and distributed to commercial and clustered backyard swine raisers in Nueva Ecija and the rest of Luzon.
“We are initially committing P80 million ($1.5 million) for this laudable project that will help us speed up our hog repopulation efforts under the DA’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program,†said Secretary Dar.
He instructed the DA’s National Livestock Program (NLP), headed by Dr. Ruth Sonaco to draft a memorandum of agreement to formalize the partnership with JG Agroventures and PIC. To bankroll the project, JG has applied for a P2.5-B ($487 million(loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank).
Several major agribusiness firms are also partnering with the DA to revive the swine industry, like the Univet Nutrition and Animal Healthcare Company (UNAHCO) and Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines, Corp. (CP Foods).
The latter has invested in a P500-million swine breeder farm in Isabela, and has committed to produce an additional 600,000 fatteners this year. It also plans to buy at least 300,000 metric tons (MT) of yellow corn from farmers for its feedmill business.
By 2023, the DA targets to produce 440,563 breeders and 10.5 million finishers under the INSPIRE program, in partnership with commercial and clustered backyard hog raisers, LGUs, and SUCs.
To help bankroll the hog repopulation program, the DA through its Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) has allotted P800 M for lending to backyard and semi-commercial raisers in ASF green zones. Individual borrowers can avail of P300,000 up to P3M, and small enterprises and FCAs, up to P15 M. The loan has zero interest, and payable up to five years. ■