Chicken inventory down 1.3% in July

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s chicken inventory fell 1.3 percent at the start of July driven by the drop in chicken production in the second quarter.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the country’s chicken inventory as of July 1 reached 184 million birds, lower than the 186.5 million birds in the same period last year.

The decline was led by the population of native/improved chicken and broiler chicken which posted reductions of 2.7 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

In contrast, layer chicken inventory improved by 10 percent.

Native or improved chicken accounted for the bulk of 45.2 percent of the total chicken inventory.

This was followed by broiler chicken with 31.1 percent share and layer chicken with 23.7 percent share.

Among the regions, Central Luzon reported the highest total chicken inventory with 31.35 million birds.

This was followed by Northern Mindanao with 23.85 million birds and CALABARZON with 22.79 million birds.

“These three regions accounted for 42.4 percent of the total chicken inventory in the country,” the PSA said.

Western Visayas reported the highest inventory of native or improved chicken with 13.16 million birds, while Central Luzon registered the highest inventory of broiler chicken at 15.63 million birds.

CALABARZON had the highest inventory of layer chicken with 15.44 million birds.

For the second quarter, the country’s chicken production declined by 1.6 percent to 433,110 metric tons (MT).

Among the regions, Central Luzon was the top producer of chicken during the quarter with a production of 140,400 MT liveweight.

This was followed by CALABARZON with 87,900 MT, liveweight, and Northern Mindanao with 36,920 MT liveweight.

“These regions shared 61.2 percent to the country’s total chicken production,” the PSA said.

Despite the drop in chicken production, the country’s overall poultry sector posted a 2.5 percent growth in the second quarter.

The production growth was led by duck with 38.4 percent. The production of chicken and duck eggs also increased by 13.1 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the poultry industry remains a brightspot for the development of the agriculture industry.

“The Philippine poultry sector performs a crucial function in our pursuit of agricultural development – where farmers and fishers can have the dignity of being self-sufficient even as all Filipinos are allowed access to adequate food,” Dar said at the Philippine Poultry and Livestock Virtual Summit.

“The poultry subsector remains a major bright spot for spurring agricultural growth this year, towards a target of two percent,” he said.