According to a Carabao Situation Report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), released earlier this week, based on data gathered from the second quarter of 2018, the Western Visayas recorded the largest reduction in carabao production in the country, attributed to local carabaos with an average lower liveweight.

However, while the region recorded losses in terms of production, or the volume of animal disposed for slaughter; the region did rank among the top five in terms of inventory, or the actual number of animals present on local farms.

The Western Visayas was ranked alongside the Bicol Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Eastern Visayas.

The top five comprise around 44.87 percent of the country’s entire carabao population.

In terms of cattle production, the Western Visayas was also ranked among nine regions that reported decreases in production. PSA also referred to the area as a “major producing” region, which recorded a 1.03 percent drop in the second quarter of 2018.

Overall, production dropped by 3.46 percent, from 68,838 metric tons last year to 66,459 this year./WDJ