March 12, 2024
Antique, Philippines has adequate swine population to meet local pork demand
Antique province, in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, has announced that it has a sufficient swine population to fulfil the demand for pork within the province, according to the Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet), Philippine News Agency reported.
According to ProVet senior agriculturist Luela Furio, the inventory conducted during the last quarter of 2023 revealed the swine population in Antique to be at 46,022 heads.
During the initial two months of 2024, traders dispatched approximately 3,599 heads outside the province. With 42,423 swine remaining in Antique, there is sufficient supply to meet local demand.
Furio said the province's four border checkpoints in the municipalities of Hamtic and Anini-y in the south and Libertad and Pandan in the north of Antique are monitoring daily the swine being shipped out of the province.
Meanwhile, the island Municipality of Caluya is seeking Recognition on Active Surveillance (RAS) for African swine fever (ASF), a prerequisite for transporting live swine outside the municipality to bolster the stocks in the province's capital town, where a shortage in supply exists.
Furio said as of the last quarter of 2023, the swine population on the island stood at 3,162 heads. The issuance of RAS is necessary to show that the live swine from Caluya is ASF-free, Furio added.
In San Jose de Buenavista, meat vendors are struggling to procure live swine for sale at the Dalipe Tradetown due to traders having local scouts or errands in the barangays to find available hogs.
Pork is being sold at PHP 400 (US$7.23) per kg, while the buying price of live weight has risen to PHP 235 – PHP 240 US$4.25 – US$4.34) from PHP 205 (US$3.70) the previous month.
- Philippine News Agency
