The Department of Agriculture (DA) considers the poultry subsector a major “bright spot” for the country’s agriculture sector which is targetted to grow 2 percent this year.
In a statement, DA Secretary William Dar said focus will be given in the subsector as it accounts for 13 percent of agriculture gross value added and posted a 2.5- percent growth in the second quarter of the year.
Dar said a P377-million budget for stocks of poultry animals will help farm families recover from the loss of jobs and unemployment due to the pandemic as well as from the effects of the avian influenza that was only declared eradicated in the Philippines last January.
Qualified beneficiaries of the program will have to organize into clusters to receive initial stocks of poultry animals to raise and propagate as a source of food and sustainable income.
“We have the chance to build on the progress that we have made in the nation’s poultry sector. We have a chance to strengthen our nation’s food security, grow the economy even faster, create jobs and lift people’s incomes and prospects. We just have to make some sensible investment choices,” Dar said.
The DA is also pushing for the establishment of postharvest and processing facilities. A P50- million cold storage and meat-cutting facility in San Jose, Batangas and a P90 million meat cutting plant and cold storage warehouse in the Pampanga State Agricultural University are underway.
Meanwhile, Dar approved last Friday the issuance of certificates of necessity to import (CNI) of 60,000 metric tons of pelagic fish to augment local production during the closed fishing season in the fourth quarter of the year.
Dar said the approved volume will include small pelagic fishes like galunggong, mackerel and bonito that will be sold only in public wet markets for the benefit of consumers, particularly in Metro Manila and fish-deficient areas in the country.
The DA said the volume was based on the recommendations of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in coordination with the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority and in consultation with the National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council and industry stakeholders.
DA added the CNI will be valid from September 2 to December 2021 and only importers of good standing and compliant with food safety guidelines will be allowed to participate in the importation.
The shipments will also be apportioned through an auction system and with the actual products to be sold at P88 per kilogram (kg) at a wholesale prices or lower.
Importers have been advised to allow inspectors, quarantine officers and law enforcers to inspect and monitor the imported fish for the purpose of performance evaluation.
According to data from stakeholders, farmgate prices of chicken as of August 27 were at P70 to P72 for off-size regulations and prime compared to the P80 to P82 last August 6.
Based on the DA’s monitoring of 11 markets in Metro Manila as of Friday (August 27), the prevailing price of whole chicken is at P140 per kg.
