THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to carry out a P70-million piglet subsidy and feed-support program for backyard hog growers in typhoon-battered regions of Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) and Central Luzon.

Of the amount, P50 million will be used to bankroll the piglet-dispersal plan and the remaining P20 million will used for the animal-feed subsidies.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the piglet subsidy and feed-support project would be implemented and bankrolled under the DA’s Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Livestock Program.

DA figures show that Typhoon Frank caused damage to crops, fisheries and the livestock and poultry sector amounting to P7.5 billion.

Yap said the DA will also undertake a massive vaccination program, worth P30 million, to protect the country’s hog population against possible Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and other emerging diseases.

This is because even before Typhoon Frank ravaged farm areas in the country, backyard raisers were already reeling from the death of piglets caused by various hog diseases.

The National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. earlier estimated that around 30 percent of backyard raisers in Luzon closed shop due to the onslaught of diseases, as well as the rising cost of feeds.

The Philippines is currently asking the Office Internationale des Epizooties to certify Luzon as free from the dreaded foot-and-mouth disease so it could tap the international market for pork.

Recently, Singapore’s Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority accredited the Matutum Meat Packing Corp. in Polomok, South Cotabato.

This effectively gave the Philippines the green light to export pork to Singapore.

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DA sets aside P70M for piglets, feed subsidies in C. Luzon, Calabarzon

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to carry out a P70-million piglet subsidy and feed-support program for backyard hog growers in typhoon-battered regions of Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) and Central Luzon.

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