By Perla Lena
ILOILO CITY – The provincial government is preparing for the second installment of its Pork Festival, highlighting its strides in combating African Swine Fever (ASF).
Governor Arthur Defensro Jr. described the Pork Festival as a platform for recovery efforts and other pertinent measures. He emphasized in an interview on Thursday, “In our investigations, some farms managed to endure because their owners made the necessary adjustments to their practices. We aim to leverage this experience and disseminate valuable insights to our farmers once more.
He said it is not pork eating but an ASF program that includes strengthening biosecurity measures and the sentinel program that highlights the festival.
“Our municipalities are set. We have municipalities that graduated from red to pink. Meaning they are ready for the sentinel program,” he said.
The provincial government has allocated an initial PHP8.31 million for 831 qualified farmers from 10 municipalities for the sentineling, on top of the similar program of the Department of Agriculture.
These include San Miguel, Barotac Viejo, New Lucena, Sta. Barbara, Mina, Dingle, Concepcion, Batad, Banate, and Oton towns that progressed into pink or buffer zone status from the previous red or infected zone.
Each farmer will have two heads of piglets that will serve as trial piglets. If they survive, it means the area is already free from the virus.
“We are waiting for the completion of the documents so we can have a declaration,” the governor added.
In addition, the province also allocated PHP10 million for another piglet dispersal program that would be released to areas where farmers were affected by the El Niño phenomenon.
“This is not a sentinel program but a measure to help farmers hit by El Niño through the raising of piglets,” he said.
Through these efforts, the governor looked forward to increasing the swine inventory, which dropped by 71 percent since the first case of ASF in September 2022.
As of April 15, the province has 79,570 swine heads or equivalent to 35 percent sufficient, although, including shipped-in frozen and processed foods, Iloilo is 70 percent sufficient, as per data from the Bureau of Animal Industry –Veterinary Quarantine Station.
The governor is hoping to roll out the sentineling and piglet dispersal next month. (PNA)
