Industry losses from bird flu hit P1.8 B

MANILA, Philippines - Just 10 days after the bird flu outbreak in Pampanga, the local poultry industry has lost approximately P1.8 billion in revenue and may not recover anytime soon as the virus has spread to Nueva Ecija, prompting the Department of Agriculture (DA) to delay anew the lifting of the shipment ban nationwide.

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) estimates the industry is losing P179 million daily following the DA order that bans shipments of poultry and its by products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao as a precautionary measure on the virus spread.

“In a small-scale farm with about 10,000 heads, our assessment is that every farmer would lose about P500,000 per cycle. And that is just a small-scale farm, what more with the bigger ones,” Sinag chairman Rosendo So said in an interview.

The industry is losing revenue since the DA did not allow the transport of their produce outside of Luzon and was exacerbated by the fear of consumers, resulting in lower sales in Luzon especially in Metro Manila.

Following the spread of bird flu in Nueva Ecija, exactly one week after the outbreak in Pampanga, the industry may lose some more and may take a little while before it fully gets back on its feet.

Depopulation in Jaen and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija started yesterday with an initial 9,000 quails and 11,300 layer chickens. 

The DA estimated that heads to be culled will total to 160,000 of which 90,000 are quails and the remaining 70,000 are layer chickens. 

“The other towns in Nueva Ecija is being affected already. Then we’ve been hearing about possible importation, it’s a double kill to the industry. Instead of helping the local producers, the situation may worsen with the entry of imports,” So said.

Because of the new incident, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said the early lifting of the ban on the shipment of poultry products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao may be delayed.

Pinol said farmers may resume shipment operations around the second week of September after all processes have been completed.

“We will have to reset the time clock again. We will be monitoring the case in the next 21 days. So another 21 days,” he said.

Furthermore, Sinag continues to slam Pinol, emphasizing that his pronouncements have been too premature and decisions being made are overboard.

“They could have handled it discreetly. It caused panic when it should not have. It could have been handled properly,” So said.

“If only he talked and consulted the industry, it could have been different. It should have been solved by the industry and the government, side by side,” he added.