Manila Times

TYPHOON-battered regions in the country will benefit from the P70-million piglet subsidy and feed support program for backyard hog growers covered by the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Livestock Program.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the subsidy program for the livestock industry will be implemented in Central Luzon and Calabarzon (covering Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), to help backyard growers acquire healthy piglets and the required feeds for their animals.

Yap said the subsidy and feed support program for backyard hog growers is part of its comprehensive rehabilitation plan for farm and fisheries stakeholders, who are still reeling from the effects of Typhoon Frank.

“Of this amount, P50 million will be used to bankroll the piglet dispersal plan and the remaining P20 million will used for the animal feed subsidies,” Yap said.

The Agriculture chief announced the subsidy program during the recent national gathering of hog raisers. He added that the piglet subsidy and feed support project will be implemented and bankrolled under the Department of Agriculture’s GMA Livestock Program.

The Agriculture department will also include in its rehabilitation package health programs and laboratory services, said Director Davinio Catbagan of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

The Agriculture department will also undertake a massive vaccination program, worth P30 million, to protect the country’s hog population against possible Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome and other emerging diseases, Catbagan said.

“We are not standing idly and simply watching prices of pork further shoot up,” Catbagan said. “We are set to embark on a rehabilitation program meant to assist not only livestock and hog raisers, but also farmers and fishermen in 11 affected regions, in tandem with the DA [Department of Agriculture] Regional Field Offices, LGUs [local government units] and the private sector.”

Even before the onslaught of Typhoon Frank, he said consumers were already faced with high meat prices.

– Ira Karen Apanay