Piglet nutrition, swine genetics vital to Philippine pig growth

An eFeedLink Exclusive

The Philippines' favourite meat, pork, is the country's second highest revenue grossing agricultural sector. Roughly 40 percent of the local meat diet comes from pork, and high income elasticity means favourable demand growth as the local economy improves. Pigs were the mainstay of the first International Animal Health, Genetics and Nutrition (Inahgen) Congress in Manila. Dubbed "The Farmers' Congress", the three-day Inahgen kicked off a series of seminars on the opening day, Aug 10, with two presentations on piglet nutrition and health.   Trends in the swine industry dictate that while higher production per sow has increased breeding efficiency, this has curbed the weaning age of piglets and quantity of milk each receives from its mother sow. Delicate piglet

digestions make it imperative that the appropriate feed be given prior to and during post-weaning, stressed Erik Rensink of Dutch animal nutrition company Sloten.
 
Addressing a packed seminar room, Rensink shares why milk-based diets are best for baby: milk products have a digestibility of 92 percent for a three-and-a-half week old piglet, compared with soymeal's 71 percent. This translates to as much as a 70-percent higher relative feed intake, and 16 percent more daily weight gain for piglets at six to 14 days post-weaning on a milk-based compared with soymeal-based diet.

According to Paul Coelis of Premix Inve Export, nutrition is all about equal doses of science and common sense. Because of poor natural lactose production in piglets, enzymes should be added to post-weaning diets to keep the young digestive systems in good shape.

Fishmeal, while boasting a strong amino acid profile beneficial to swine nutrition, is becoming less attractive in hog feed because current explosive prices no longer seem to justify their use. And while soymeal is far from ideal, fermented soy presents a good protein alternative, Coelis shares.

Producers also need to realise that the upfront costs of expensive milk-based feeds are investments to good animal health that yield returns far exceeding the costs of grower and finisher feeds. In answer to questions on how a liveweight of 25-30 kg can be achieved in 77 days, farmers were advised to adopt sound farm management practices and moderate expectations to a 25 kg average weight, rather than presuming that all pigs should reach that weight standard. 

Swine husbandry's intensive production will only heighten in the next ten years, predicts Prof Leo den Hartog, Nutreco's director of agriculture R&D. As world trade in pork accelerates, the Philippines can expect an increase in pork trade of 11 percent over eight years from 2004 to 2012.

Yet levels of production and efficiency vary between farms. Pointing to three critical periods in piglet development--the first month of sow pregnancy, first day in the life of the piglet, and post-weaning period--Prof den Hartog says that these periods in the life of a pig can have a great impact on overall production. Farmers should be mindful of providing the right nutrition to support pigs during these critical periods of stress. 

But often, pig stress also translates to producer anxiety. Recently, local piggeries have had to contend with swine respiratory problems and piglet diarrhoea, an emerging viral disease in the Philippines for which there are few vaccines available locally. At the same time, the country is aiming to eradicate foot-and-mouth disease in certain regions like Luzon in the north, in an estimated two to three years' time.

Enteric and coronary pig diseases are other diseases that affect the bottomline, says Alfredo Mendoza, Schering Plough's technical specialist for swine. To help producers cope with these disease problems, Mendoza tells eFeedLink that the company offers a back-to-basics programme that reaches out to farmers through agri-cooperatives and conducts technical seminars in the provinces.

Here is also where genetics come into play. Although it does not guarantee disease-free livestock, the breeds produced from good genetic stock are certainly more robust and, together with a good feeding strategy, lead to stock improvements and higher livestock productivity.

Jimmy Chua, general manager of the Infarmco group of companies in the Philippines and president of the Philippine Swine Industry, Research and Development Foundation, believes that genetics can help producers compete better. Good genetic stock allows hogs to be raised to a premium weight of up to 120 to 130 kilogrammes, which fetches a better price than the more common 85 kg.

At heavier weights, FCR is also more efficient, so that hogs eat lesser yet grow faster. By contracting their heavier liveweight animals to commercial meat processors, hog producers are able to exercise a measure of control on demand and supply while improving margins.

That the component of swine genetics was introduced for the first time at this year's congress attests to the growing importance of genetics in the Philippine swine industry, says Danilo Sanchez, chairman of the organising committee. As a meeting place for local livestock producers to learn from technical seminars and exchange notes, Inahgen also aims to meet visitor expectations for finding out about new products and potential distributorships, says Sanchez.