DA to boost swine research, training

MANILA, Philippines — The Department Agriculture (DA) has transferred the National Training Center on Pig Husbandry (NTCPH) from the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to aid the recovery of the hog sector.

In an administrative order, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the transferred NTCPH located in Marawoy, Lipa City, Batangas would now be renamed as the National Swine Research and Training Center (NSRTC).

“The swine industry is still suffering from the effects of the African swine fever (ASF), thus the conversion of the NTCPH to swine research and training center would be a great help on the recovery and development of the swine industry,”Dar said.

Dar said with the transfer of the administrative and technical supervision of the NTCPH, the BAI will serve as the umbrella organization overseeing swine research and development.

He said the NSRTC would  serve as a “site of nucleus farms that shall maintain standard superior purebred swine breeds”.

The NSRTC is tasked to conduct research and production of extended boar semen for the benefit of small and medium scale breeders, as well as research to enhance production performance of Philippine pigs, including development and packaging of relevant technologies such as frozen semen production.

It will also conduct continuing performance evaluation of swine breeds under Philippine conditions.

Dar said the center would also support other related activities promoting good husbandry practices such as boar auction, and collaborate and partner with state universities and colleges, other research institutions, both foreign and local, as well as  the private sector to support research and technology development for the local hog sector.

He also directed the center to maintain a database of breeder swine in collaboration with the Swine Breeder Farm Accreditation Program of the BAI.

The NSRTC is also tasked to support the engagement and implementation of relevant international and externally funded projects such as the Korean Traceability Project.

It will also support the training in advance production, management and breeding techniques, biosecurity, artificial insemination, and other activities related to swine production being conducted by ATI.

Later known as the International Training Center on Pig Husbandry, the NTCPH was institutionalized in March 1989 under the DA’s ATI.

It provided comprehensive and practice-oriented training on swine production and related aspects to farmers, entrepreneurs, private extension service providers, among others.

The country’s swine industry has been hit by the ASF since it was first detected in the country in 2019.

Dar earlier attributed the decline in agriculture sector’s overall output in the third quarter of 2021 to the ASF problem.

“Were it not for the ASF , the agri-fishery sector would have registered a positive growth in 2020 and this year,” Dar said, adding that the combined efforts against ASF are gaining headway as disease incidence is waning.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the value of production in local agriculture declined by 2.6 percent to P406.8 billion in the third quarter. This is a larger decline compared to the 1.5 percent drop in the previous quarter.

The livestock sector led the decline in the third quarter as it registered a 15.2 percent reduction in production, which accounted for 15.3 percent of the country’s total agricultural production.

In addition, the value of agricultural production dropped by 2.52 percent in the first nine months of  2021  to P1.26 trillion.