The Antique Small and Medium Economic Development (SMED) Council is urging for intensified bio-security measures against the African swine fever (ASF).
Vicente Lagunday, co-chairperson of the SMED Council, said there is a need for the Antique provincial government and other concerned government agencies to strengthen their bio-security measures for the hog industry in the province to remain ASF-free.
“There is a scare felt by the hog-raisers in the province with the ASF cases now in Luzon and Mindanao,” he said.
He said the hog raisers are depopulating their backyard pig pens due to fear the ASF will also affect their livestock.
“The tendency now for hog- raisers is to sell their swine before they could be affected by the ASF,” he said.
The hog raisers sell their stock even for a lower price because they would rather earn a meager amount than having nothing.
“The current farm gate price of swine is P90 per kilo,” he said.
The farm gate price of swine could go as much as P110 per kilo without the ASF scare.
Lagunday said to ensure the ASF would not affect Antique or Panay island in the Visayas, the only places left without ASF, there should be strict monitoring of the entry of swine, pork and pork by-products in the area.
“Supermarkets have to be strictly monitored on the pork and pork by-products they are selling,” he said.
He added that the provincial government should have more manpower to do the monitoring about the entry of the swine, pork and pork by-products in the entry and exit points to Antique like in Hamtic, which is the first town next to San Joaquin of Iloilo province, and in Libertad, which is in the boundary of Aklan province.
He also said there should also be continuous monitoring of baggage at the airport.
Lagunday said when hog raisers see their industry is secured from the ASF, then they would be encouraged again to revive their livelihood.
The province of Antique has a total hog inventory of 72,963 heads as of Jan. 1, 2018 and ranked fifth in the hog industry profile of Western Visayas.PNA
