DA turns over ‘hogstel’ to Kidapawan LGU amid ASF

KIDAPAWAN CITY –– Amid Agriculture Secretary William Dar’s call to farmers, discouraging them from engaging in hog raising at this time of the onslaught of the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus, regional officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) here turned over to the local government a “hogstel” project amounting to P3.7 million.

Milagros Casis, regional executive director of DA in region 12, said the facility built in Barangay Kalaisan here had been designed to boost the hog industry in the city and the region as a whole.

The building, which features two communal stalls for pigs, 16 gestating stalls and two stalls for piglets, was turned over to Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista on February 12, when neighboring towns and provinces were on high quarantine alert to prevent the spread of the ASF confirmed on pigs in Davao Occidental towns.

Eugene Gornez, Kidapawan City Veterinarian, said that along with the facility, 60 heads of pigs were also turned over to the city government.

Secretary Dar in a visit to the ASF-affected areas on Feb. 8 issued a call to farmers, discouraging them from going into hog raising at this time when the ASF virus was still prevalent.

“I would rather suggest (to farmers to look for) other livelihood opportunities,” he said. “That’s why we are giving (them) loan assistance (of) P30,000 para, baka pwede namang manok, kambing, huwag muna ang baboy, kasi nandiyan pa ang (for possibly chicken or goat-raising but not hogs, yet, while there is still the) threat, ng (of) ASF,” Dar said, referring to the DA’s loan facility, which would allow farmers to borrow at zero-interest-rate payable in two to three years.

Gornez said, however, they were not worried at all by the ASF because they observed tight quarantine measures in all entry and exit points of the city, ensuring that the 60 pigs were free from ASF contamination.

Casis said the “hogstel” project, a hog facility funded by the region’s livestock program, would allow swine producers to breed and fatten their animals more systematically,” she said.

Edited by LZB