By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The supply of pork in Negros Occidental dropped by 50 percent due to African swine fever (ASF) and hog cholera last year.

Ric Lauron, Alliance of Hog Raisers Association of Negros Occidental (AHRANO) head, said local hog raisers are now struggling to increase the available pork supply to meet consumer demand.

Figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority on Wednesday, February 28, showed Negros Occidental produced 58,182.10 metric tons of hogs last year.

Based on their monitoring, a pork supply shortage has caused some local butcher shops to temporarily suspend their operations.

Lauron further noted that most hogs have not yet matured enough for slaughter.

He added that it would take another two months before supplies go back to normal.

Local raisers have decided not to export hogs to increase pork supply.

Meanwhile, Lauron said the AHRANO supports the provincial government’s newly-issued anti-ASF guidelines which impose a total ban on the entry of pork products from eight areas, including Bacolod City.

However, since Bacolod has been cleared to accept pork shipments from other areas, including those tagged as ASF red zones, Lauron said they are concerned over the possibility of contamination.

They are hoping that the provincial government will strictly enforce their monitoring on the pork ban./DGB, WDJ