Iloilo gears up to revive hog industry

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The provincial government of Iloilo announced it is ready to implement its sentinelling program to revive hog production, heavily impacted by African swine fever (ASF).

“We are now ready. Our sentinelling program will partially be funded by the budget of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC),” Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said in a press conference on Thursday, May 16.

The provincial government has allocated a P10.032-million budget for the sentinelling program.

“We are still waiting for the memorandum of agreement with the local government units, and then we can release the funds to them,” Defensor added.

Of the 43 towns in the province, at least 884 backyard hog raisers from 14 towns are eligible for the swine repopulation program.

These 14 towns have been upgraded by the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry from red zone to pink zone status for ASF.

The towns include San Miguel, Barotac Viejo, New Lucena, Santa Barbara, Mina, Dingle, Concepcion, Batad, Banate, Oton, Janiuay, Leganes, Zarraga, and Lambunao.

The town of Banate leads with 189 farmers, followed by Oton with 158, and Janiuay with 100.

Meanwhile, Defensor said that part of the budget for the dispersal of swine to El Niño-affected farmers will come from the trust fund of the PDRRMC. He mentioned that the budget allocation is still pending at the provincial board.

“We are just about ready to complete the paperwork and release the checks to our municipalities,” he said.

In the swine dispersal program, the provincial government has proposed a P9 million budget, with over P7 million allocated for the procurement of pigs and P2 million for acquiring feed.

Fifteen towns unaffected by ASF have been identified as the primary recipients of this initiative. Local government units will determine eligible beneficiaries, each of whom will receive two piglets for rearing.