DAVAO CITY— Pork consumers need not worry about the supply of pork during the holiday season as it got enough supply, this was the assurance of the Department of Agriculture in Davao Region (DA-11).
The assurance came in the wake of African Swine Fever cases in some areas in southern Mindanao including Davao city and some provinces.
In a press conference on Tuesday Dr. Karl Laurence Pineda, the focal person of DA-11 for the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program, said they are confident that the supply of pork come December won’t run short despite the ASF challenge,
“There is no shortage even when we have ASF cases. At this point, the big hog farms in Davao Region have reserved their supply for the holiday season,” the government’s Philippine News Agency quoted Pineda’s assurance.
In fact, he revealed that in the year 2021, the region had enough supply of pork during the holidays.
Pork supply is being singled out as most families always had the traditional lechon on top of their tables during Christmas and the New year’s celebration.
“I can still remember that in the third quarter of last year, we went to big farms to buy hogs for our sentineling program. They refuse to sell it because they have been preparing the supply for the holiday season,” Pineda said.
Earlier this year, the swine industry in the different parts of the region especially those into backyard piggery was affected with ASF there was massive depopulation of hogs to avert further contamination.