HOG PRODUCTION in the first quarter fell 3.7% year on year to 403.79 thousand metric tons (MT) on a liveweight basis, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
The contraction in hog production narrowed from the 4.3% decline posted a year earlier, the PSA said.
Northern Mindanao was the top hog producer with 57.99 thousand MT liveweight, accounting for 14.4% of the national total.
It was followed by Calabarzon with 57.36 thousand MT, Central Luzon (50.66 thousand MT), the Central Visayas (40.86 thousand MT), and Davao region (31.72 thousand MT).
Calabarzon swine production fell by 6.14 thousand MT, the steepest decline of the 11 regions where production retreated.
As of March 31, the Philippines’ swine inventory fell by 11.3% year on year to 8.84 million heads, from the previous year’s same period count of 9.96 million heads.
About 71.1% of swine population was by smallhold farms, and the remaining 26.1% and 2.8% by commercial and semi-commercial farms, respectively.
Pork prices have remained high even with a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) in effect during the period. The average retail price of fresh pork shoulder (kasim) was P369.64 per kilo in the PSA’s May 1-5 monitoring period.
The government discontinued the MSRP scheme on May 15 at the request of the pork industry, which claimed that participants in the pork value chain were setting prices too high to allow retailers to comply.
Meanwhile, the PSA said chicken production in the first quarter rose 8.7% year on year to 550.50 thousand MT on a liveweight basis.
Central Luzon was the top producer of chicken with 187.92 thousand MT on a liveweight basis, accounting for 34.1% of national production, followed by Calabarzon with 104.91 thousand MT, Northern Mindanao (46.57 thousand MT), the Central Visayas (27.70 thousand MT), and Soccksargen (24.52 thousand MT).
Fourteen regions reported year-on-year increases in chicken production during the first quarter, with Central Luzon adding the most output with an increment of 17 thousand MT liveweight.
Broiler chicken accounted for 86.1% of the total, followed by native/improved chicken with 12%, culled layer chicken (1.5%), and gamefowl for breeding (0.4%). — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
