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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
MANILA, Aug. 19 (APD) – Newly-appointed Agriculture Secretary William Dollente Dar said he has ordered the revival and firming up of their Crisis Management Team (CMT) as he received reports of increased mortality in hogs all of which were raised in backyards.
In a statement released late Monday afternoon, the Department of Agriculture said they suspect a major animal disease and that they have had confirmatory tests, results of which were being examined here and abroad.
Acting on reports received from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) which noted an increased mortality in pigs raised by farmers in their backyards, Secretary Dar said he has directed his staff to conduct further confirmatory laboratory tests which include the shipment of blood samples to foreign laboratories to ascertain the cause of the animals’ deaths.
“We ordered the Crisis Management Team to work closely with key industry players and local government officials to manage the incident and carry out ground-level operations,” Secretary Dar said.
He assured animal industry stakeholders and the general public that they are doing everything possible as they have upgraded monitoring and vigilance including the imposition of stricter quarantine measures across the country’s ports of entry, airports, and seaports.
“We call on all high raisers, commercial and backyard raisers to strictly observe and practice good livestock standards, including the needed bio-security measures,” he added as he vowed to strictly and vigorously implement existing laws, rules and regulations to protect the country’s livestock industry. No figures were released on hogs affected by the still undisclosed disease.
According to the government’s Philippine Statistics Authority, the total swine inventory in the country was 12.73 million heads which were 0.2 percent lower compared to its previous year’s stocks of 12.75 million heads as of April 1, 2019.
Out of this number, swine in backyard farms reached 8.06 million heads with a contraction of 1.0 percent from the previous year’s headcount of 8.14 million heads.
Stocks at commercial farms was reported at 4.67 million which saw an expansion of 1.2 percent from the 2018 level of 4.61 million heads.
Central Luzon recorded the highest inventory at 2.10 million heads followed by CALABARZON with 1.57 million heads and the Western Visayas with 1.26 million heads.
The combined stocks from these regions accounted for 38.7 percent of the country’s total swine inventory.
(Top image: Agriculture Secretary William Dollente Dar. /Department of Agriculture photo)
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
