THE country’s total swine inventory as of January 1 plunged by 24.1 percent to 9.72 million heads, the lowest beginning stock in 25 years, as local raisers reel from the disruptions caused by African Swine Fever (ASF).
These were the latest figures released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday that showed the extent of ASF devastation on the country’s hog sector.
PSA’s preliminary estimate showed that hog inventory across farm types and age groups declined during the reference period.
PSA data showed that hogs in backyard farms, which account for 71 percent of total inventory, fell by 13.3 percent to 6.909 million heads from last year’s 7.971 million heads.
Historical PSA data analyzed by the BusinessMirror showed that this is the lowest volume of hogs in backyard farms since 1994 when backyard farms inventory was at 6.766 million heads.
Commercial farms’ inventory of hogs declined by 41.8 percent to 2.806 million heads, the lowest volume since the 2.717 million heads recorded in 2002, PSA data showed.
By age group
The total number of sows (female, 6 months old and above) in the country fell by a fourth to 1.428 million heads from the 1.761 million heads recorded at the start of 2020, PSA data showed.
PSA data showed that gilt (female, less than 6 months old) inventory at the start of the year declined by 6.4 percent to 517,311 heads from 552,967 heads while number of fatteners (5 months old and above) plunged by 26.7 percent to 2.547 million heads.
Nationwide grower (2 months to 5 months) inventory declined by 28.9 percent to 2.394 million heads from last year’s 3.367 million heads.
Inventory of other pigs, which includes piglets, weanlings and boars, declined by 23.1 percent to 2.826 million heads.
The reduction in hog inventory caused by ASF and ASF-related actions such as early cullings, reduction in loading and stoppage operations, have resulted in pork shortage, pushing retail prices to historic highs.
Chicken inventory up, broiler down
In a separate report published on Tuesday, the PSA said the country’s total chicken inventory as of January increased slightly to 179.78 million birds from last year’s 178.26 million birds.
PSA data showed that the -4.7 percent reduction in broiler inventory was mitigated by the 3.1-percent and 4.2-percent increase in the number of native chicken and layer, respectively.
Historical PSA data showed that the country’s total broiler inventory fell to 53.72 million birds, its lowest level in 11 years since the 52.213 million birds recorded in 2010. Broilers accounted for a third of the total chicken inventory.
PSA data showed that native chicken inventory at the start of the year grew to 83.14 million birds from 80.68 million birds, while layer rose to 42.93 million birds from 38.81 million birds.
The BusinessMirror first broke the story that the national government will expand its data gathering and monitoring on the country’s livestock and poultry supply.
National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa told this newspaper that the undertaking would require an additional budget of around P60 million.
Mapa said PSA and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now in talks, with the latter keen on funding the data collection efforts.
“We are planning to expand our livestock and poultry surveys to monthly data collection from the current quarterly schedule to provide policy-makers with higher frequency data,” Mapa said.