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Friday, March 29, 2024

Hog raisers to get ₧461-M indemnity soon–DA

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The Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will soon complete the indemnification of all backyard raisers whose hogs were culled by the government to contain the spread of African swine fever (ASF).

The DA said it received a total of P2.158-billion indemnification request from backyard hog raisers whose pigs were culled in ASF-infected areas. Hog raisers are entitled to receive P5,000 for every culled pig.

The agency said it has already paid about 78.63 percent or P1.697 billion of the total indemnification request. A total of 48,530 hog raisers benefited from the scheme.

The DA said the remaining P461 million of indemnification, covering 92,200 culled pigs, will soon be released following President Duterte’s approval of the additional indemnification fund.

“We thank President Duterte for recently approving our request for the additional P461 million that completes our ASF indemnification payments, amounting to P2.158 billion,” Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said in a statement.

The DA added that it continues to provide financial and technical assistance to ASF-affected hog raisers through its twin repopulation programs: “Bantay ASF sa Barangay” and Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives.

“We will continue to provide farmers with needed technical and financial assistance, so they can start anew, as we strongly pursue efforts to contain, manage and control the ASF, and subsequently revive the country’s swine industry.”

The DA said it has distributed 8,169 sentinel pigs to 3,061 farmer-beneficiaries in 312 ASF-free barangays to date.

It added that it will establish 10 community-based production facilities in ASF-free areas or “green zones” through clustering and consolidation, worth P50 million, including a climate-controlled 300-head grower capacity building located in a bio-secured area and 16 swine breeder multiplier farms, worth P125 million, in partnership with hog farmers’ cooperatives and associations, local government units (LGUs), and state universities and colleges.

The government is allotting a total of P42.8 billion for lending to backyard and commercial hog raisers in ASF-free areas through the Land Bank of the Philippines (P30 billion), Development Bank of the Philippines (P12 billion) and the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council (P800 million).

“The DA is encouraging backyard and commercial hog raisers to have their animal stocks insured with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. to avail of insurance coverage of up to P10,000 for fatteners and P14,500 for breeders, respectively,” it said.

The agency said it has procured and distributed 134 ASF rapid PCR test kits to LGUs to boost their early detection and surveillance efforts on the ground. The DA disclosed that next year, all DA Regional Animal Diagnostic Laboratories will have RT-PCR equipment that can be used not only to detect ASF virus, but also other animal or human disease-causing organisms.

“We, therefore, renew our call to all backyard and commercial raisers across the country to fine-tune their respective production and biosecurity protocols, adhering to the new normal, and altogether prevent ASF infection and resurgence.”

Read full article on BusinessMirror

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