Backyard hog farming gets boost

A memorandum of agreement for commercialization of backyard hog farming among a number of government agencies and private livestock organizations and a local government unit was approved recently by Agriculture Secretary Luis P. Lorenzo Jr.

The MOA gathers into a hardworking group the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) agencies, represented by the Livestock Development Council, (LDC), Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the DA Regional Field Unit 3; the provincial government of Bulacan, the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) and the Philippine Swine Industry Research and Development Foundation (PSIRDF).

Officials of the agencies and organizations involved in the project represented each party: LDC Executive Director Pedro O. Ocampo; BAI Director Jose Q. Molina; DA-3 Regional Director Pepito U. De Dote; Bulacan Gov. Josefina M. de la Cruz; NFHFI Chairman Gabby Uy and PSIRDF Director General Menandro O. Maleon.

The project conceived and proposed by the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) to boost backyard pig raising is designed to improve production coefficients: average daily weight, gain feed conversion, efficiency and weaning weights.

The scheme will involve private companies, suppliers of breeder stocks, feeds and veterinary medicines in road shows, technical seminars, information, in complementation with the DA and LGUs. Processes, inputs and outputs will be fully documented.

A "model" for future success of private sector-LGU-DA cooperation will be developed from successful pilot projects in selected barangays of Bulacan.

The interest of the government and private livelihood sector will be most welcome to hog farmers contributing around 77 percent to the hog industry in the country with direct dependents numbering some 3.8 million Filipinos.