The town of San Jose de Buenavista, Antique is now experiencing scarcity in pork supply because of African swine fever (ASF).
San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer (MEEDO) Darcy Bungay said he received information from meat vendors about their difficulty buying live hogs.
“There used to be an average of 30 to 35 heads of swine being slaughtered daily, but for now there are already only about 19-21 heads.”
The limited supply of the meat product caused the increase in the selling price from P200 to P220 per kilogram when the when ASF case was first confirmed on June 29, 2023, to P240 to P250 per kilogram.Bungay said that farmers might have rushed in slaughtering their swine upon learning of the positive case in the municipality before they get infected by the animal disease.
“Pork has become scarce because of the many ASF hotspots already,” he added.
The MEED officer said that they are looking at the possibility of buying live hogs from municipalities that are still free from ASF to meet the demand of consumers if they could no longer find stocks in San Jose.
The Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO) recorded a total of 46 hog mortalities from 17 barangays as of July 10, 2023.PNA
