For decades now, the Philippines’s livestock industry has received limited attention and developmental assistance from the government, Senator Cynthia Villar has renewed pitch to give it a boost.
The senator, chairperson of the Senate committed on agriculture, food and agrarian reform, noted that this sector’s issues and problems should be addressed. This prompted her to seek the help of the Department of Finance to conduct a study on the competitiveness of the country’s livestock sector to be the basis of the draft bill. The National Economic and Development Authority and Philippine Institute for Development Studies reported out their findings during the hearing.
Their proposed measure, along with Senate Bill 1297 filed by Sen. Lito Lapid, Villar said, will further boost the country’s capacity for early detection and preventive response to livestock diseases. “The government’s thrust must be that of early detection and control of the disease to prevent it from reaching the level of an outbreak and from spreading across entire regions,” she added. Moreover, Senate Bill 821 of Sen.
In the NEDA’s presentation, it emphasized that yellow corn is the main component of animal feed production and the main driver of livestock and poultry prices. The yellow corn industry and animal feeds promotion and propagation have to be considered in crafting the development of the sector as well, like substituting corn with high protein vegetable as livestock feeds.