Commercial hogs breeder JG Agroventures Inc. closed a P2.5-billion loan agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines to finance a large-scale swine breeder program.
Myrna Galicia of JG Agroventures said the project would initially support a 5,000-sow breeder nucleus farm in Barangay Sta.Rita, Quezon, Nueva Ecija.
JG Agroventures teamed up with Pig Improvement Co., an international leader in the provision of continuous genetic improvement in swine breeding stock, to develop excellent quality sow stock.
PIC general manager Vino Borromeo stressed the importance of the private sector in the DA’s initiatives to revive the swine industry.
“Through this collaboration, we can provide livelihood, food security and eventually improve the economy. Together, let us turn the pig industry into a globally competitive sector, by increasing production and quality,” he said.
Once operational, the state-of-the-art facility will be stocked with PIC great grandparent breeders, whose offsprings or grandparent piglets will be sold and distributed to commercial and clustered backyard swine raisers in Nueva Ecija and the rest of Luzon.
Galicia said the Department of Agriculture was continuously supporting the livestock sector and forging partnerships to provide livelihood and revive the hog industry.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the the DA would provide P80 million in counterpart funding to help speed up hog repopulation efforts under the agency’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion program.
The National Livestock Program will draft a memorandum of agreement to formalize the partnership with JG Agroventures and PIC.
“We envision JG Agroventures to supply the DA initially with 1,000 GP quality breeders for every farrowing, which we will distribute to commercial and clustered backyard swine raisers, and farmers’ cooperatives and associations participating in our INSPIRE program,” Dar said.
Several major agribusiness firms are also teaming up with the DA to revive the swine industry including Univet Nutrition and Animal Healthcare Company and Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corp.
CP Foods invested in a P500-million swine breeder farm in Isabela and committed to produce an additional 600,000 fatteners in 2022. It also plans to buy at least 300,000 metric tons of yellow corn from farmers for its feed mill business.
The livestock sector continued to sustain major losses in 2021, reflecting a 17-percent drop in output due to the persisting contagion on hogs.
The DA allotted P4.1 billion to implement the “Bantay ASF sa Barangay” and hog repopulation program, which involves the establishment of swine breeder and multiplier farms.
