Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. challenged the swine industry to produce an additional 2 million hogs annually to restore the country’s pig population to pre-African Swine Fever (ASF) levels by 2028.
Tiu Laurel highlighted the industry’s urgent need to recover from ASF, which wiped out around 6 million hogs since its outbreak in 2019 during the 31st National Hog Convention and Trade Exhibit in Pasay City on Thursday.
“Before ASF, we had nearly 14 million hogs; now, we have 8 million. With a growing population, demand is even higher than before. My challenge is clear: we need to produce 2 million more hogs annually―through 2026, 2027, and 2028―to regain pre-ASF levels, and that’s the minimum,” he said.
The DA chief said two major commercial hog producers committed to increasing production by 500,000 heads each starting next year.
“If they deliver, that’s already 1 million additional hogs,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture sees the potential ASF vaccine rollout this year and funding from the proposed Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act as key drivers of recovery.
To support this goal, Tiu Laurel tasked DA undersecretary for livestock Dante Palabrica with drafting a roadmap for swine industry recovery.
Under the proposed Animal Industry Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, around P4 billion will be allocated to help the swine industry rebuild.
Tiu Laurel said restoring hog numbers to pre-ASF levels would also reduce reliance on pork imports as “Filipinos still prefer the meat of freshly slaughtered hogs.”
The livestock and poultry sectors make up a quarter of the country’s agricultural output, providing livelihoods for over 2.8 million Filipino farmers.