September 30, 2009

Aside from the palay and the high-value commercial crops (HVCCs) sectors, the poultry sector in Central Luzon and Rizal may have also been severely affected by the floods caused by Tropical Storm Ondoy.

 

United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) president Gregorio San Diego and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now making an assessment of the extent of the damage caused by the floods on the poultry sector in Luzon.

 

Central Luzon and Rizal are considered major poultry-producing areas in the Philippines, San Diego noted.

 

The last time the Philippines imported chicken products was in 2006, when the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Milenyo, which caused chicken production to fall short by 5 million kilogrammes.

 

Figures from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show that chicken production for January to June 2009 posted an increase of 4.15 percent.

 

BAS, an attached agency of the DA, attributed the uptrend in broiler production to the increase in the output of commercial farms in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao.

 

In general, the poultry subsector expanded by 4.31 percent and accounted for 13.57 percent of total agricultural output for the first semester of 2009.