The Department of Agriculture (DA) is considering to adapt an industry proposal of implementing a support price for pork and chicken meat to ensure raisers’ income during times of oversupply and falling meat prices in the market.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the idea was floated by broiler industry stakeholders following the implementation of a suggested retail price (SRP) on chicken meat recently.
“They are now suggesting if there is [an] SRP in the selling of chicken [meat], [then] there should be a farm support price for chicken. There should also be a suggested buying price,” Piñol told reporters in an interview on Monday.
“The increase in prices is not because of the lack of supply but because of artificial manipulation of prices,” Piñol added.
Piñol said the proposal is also being extended to locally produced hogs. Pinol added that he would conduct a dialogue with the concerned stakeholders to discuss the support price proposal.
“For chicken and pork, the [buying price] should not be below P80 a kilo,” he said.
Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines (ProPork) President Edwin G. Chen threw his support behind the proposed support price for locally produced meat products.
“That would be a big help for us if the government would be able to come up with a farm support price. Because during times of oversupply, the farm-gate price really goes down and we cannot do anything but to follow the law of supply and demand,” Chen said in an interview with reporters on Monday.
“The backyard raisers and producers would be losing profit. As of now, [with] the state of our industry, all of our inputs have increased,” Chen added.
Chen said the average farm-gate price of live hogs is now ranging from P120 per kilogram to P130 per kilogram, depending on the area.
“This price level of P120 per kilogram to P130 per kilogram could be the [government’s] support price. But if it goes below that level, the backyard farmers would be hurt,” he said.