Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has assured hog raisers of assistance from the Department of Agriculture to help boost swine production in the province.

This was disclosed by Albert R.T. Lim, president of the Negros Occidental Hog Raisers Association, who joined Yap in his meeting late Friday with representatives from the Alliance of Hog Raisers Association in Negros Occidental and the Negros Occidental Hog Breeders' Multi-purpose Cooperative.

Lim said the NOHBMC, which operates a feedmill in Brgy. Vista Alegre, Bacolod City, asked for financial assistance and Yap referred them to the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, which provides access to credit and financing for agricultural projects of small farmers. AHRANO, for its part, requested that weighing scales be set up in markets where they sell their hogs.

Lim said Yap also listened to the grievances of the hog raisers who availed of the swine loan production program from Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp., but encountered problems in the inputs from suppliers.

The DA secretary has directed Quedancor OIC Federico Espiritu to solve the problem, he said.

Meanwhile, Yap also offered assistance to Negrense corn farmers in increasing local production.

"(Secretary Yap) wants to make Negros Occidental corn-producing as well," Lim said.

Since Negros Occidental is also not corn self-sufficient, the province still sources its additional corn supply from Iloilo and Mindanao.

Lim said Yap has promised that DA will also provide post-harvest facilities to Negrense farmers. While the province needs to increase its hog production to meet the demands of the soon-to-rise Triple A slaughterhouse in Sagay City, he said, there is also a need to boost corn production to have sufficient supply for feeds needed by hog farms.

Lim said needed are hogs that weigh 120 kilos and above to enable swine raisers to easily recover their production costs. The bigger the hogs, the lower the production, he added.*NLG

back to top