Gov’t assures public of enough meat, chicken supply

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has assured the consuming public of stable meat supply amid growing concerns that there will not be enough inventory as the country continues to be under quarantine.“Contrary to recent projections painting a deficit scenario of the country’s meat sector, we are pleased to report that on the contrary, we have a favorable outlook despite difficulties encountered last year,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a statement.

The Philippines reported its first case of African swine fever (ASF) last year. Until today, the DA is still struggling to contain the disease, which already led to the culling of more than 250,000 hogs nationwide.

Nonetheless, Dar said the agency was projecting that by June, supply of chicken and pork would be sufficient for 62 days and 10 days, respectively. This was based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority and consultations with industry stakeholders.

Chicken supply is seen to surpass the country’s annual requirement of 1.3 million metric tons by 400,000 MT, or an inventory good for 157 days, the official added.

For pork, an oversupply is seen in Visayas and Mindanao, which the agency said might mean there would be no need to import this year, adding that cold-storage facilities were already filled to the brim with the commodity.

However, the National Meat Inspection Service said there might be a deficit of about 121,000 MT by yearend due to a 21-percent contraction in terms of production.

Dar said any shortfall would be addressed by the proposed P31-billion Plant, Plant, Plant program, but funding for its projects has yet to be released by the national government.

Under the program, the DA will focus on improving the production of livestock and corn and on expanding small ruminants and poultry projects.

It will also intensify hog-raising in ASF-free areas in accordance with the zoning plan and implement urban agriculture projects that include native chicken production. INQ