By Annabel Consuelo Petinglay
In San Jose de Buenavista, Antique, officials from the Antique Provincial Veterinary (ProVet) affirmed on Tuesday that the province possesses an adequate swine population to cater to the local demand for pork.
According to ProVet Senior Agriculturist Luela Furio, data from the last quarter of 2023 indicated that Antique’s swine population stood at 46,022 heads.
During the initial two months of 2024, traders transported approximately 3,599 swine out of the province. Nonetheless, with 42,423 hogs remaining within Antique, there’s a sufficient supply to meet the province’s pork consumption needs.
Furio emphasized the vigilance exercised by the four border checkpoints located in the municipalities of Hamtic and Anini-y in the south, as well as Libertad and Pandan in the north of Antique, which continuously monitor the transportation of hogs leaving the province.
Meantime, the island Municipality of Caluya is applying for Recognition on Active Surveillance (RAS) on African swine fever (ASF), a requirement to transport live weight outside of the municipality and augment the stocks at the province’s capital town, where there is a shortage in supply.
The swine population in the island as of the last quarter of 2023 was at 3, 162 heads.
“The issuance of RAS is necessary to show that the live weight from Caluya is ASF-free,” she said.
Meat vendors from the San Jose de Buenavista could hardly find live weight to be sold at the Dalipe Tradetown since traders have local scouts or errands in the barangays to look for available hogs.
Pork at the tradetown is sold at PHP400 a kilo while the buying price of live weight is now at PHP235-PHP240 from PHP205 the last month. (PNA)
