DA creates group to combat disease outbreak in poultry

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has created a task force that will address issues and disease outbreaks plaguing the local poultry industry.

The critical component of the task force is the involvement of the private sector, DA Assistant Secretary and deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said.

“The task force includes the private sector. Actually, one of the proposals of the private sector is to have and be part of the task force,” he said, noting it will focus on addressing diseases, both existing and emerging.

In a text message, United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) president Elias Jose Inciong confirmed that their group requested to form the task force, which would primarily focus on disease outbreaks.

“It is necessary as there is no inter-department planning for worse scenarios,” he said.

Latest BAI data showed  that three provinces have ongoing bird flu cases – namely Magalang, Arayat and San Fernando City in Pampanga; Rizal municipality in Kalinga; and Santa Cruz and Lumban in Laguna.

In the first quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the population of native/improved chicken and broiler chicken grew by 5.6 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

However, layer chicken stocks reported a decline of 0.2 percent, which industry stakeholders said was due to the impact of bird flu and high feed costs.

Meanwhile, the DA created another task force under DA special order 643 which aims “to ensure the alignment of the supply and domestic demand for poultry products.”

It is chaired by DA Assistant Secretary for policy research and development Noel Padre, and co-chaired by Assistant Secretary for regulations Paz Benavidez II and Bureau of Animal Industry director Paul Limson.

Members of the task force consist of representatives from the DA’s Policy Research Service, National Meat Inspection Service, Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service, and from stakeholders.

Under the special order, the task force will evaluate the current market dynamics and trends in local poultry production, imports, domestic demand, prices, and the overall market conditions.

It will also identify potential remedies pursuant to international obligations and relevant laws, rules and regulations to address challenges and promote a fair and competitive poultry market.

Lastly, the task force will also “foster collaboration and active involvement of stakeholders to ensure their perspectives are considered in decision-making processes.”

The DA said the task force will come up with its policy recommendations and other proposed anticipatory measures and strategies, which will be submitted to the DA Secretary.

Estoperez said the functions of new task force would not overlap with price and volume watch committee for livestock and poultry.

In January, the DA revived the price and volume watch committee and advisory groups for livestock and poultry, which was discontinued under the term of then Agriculture secretary William Dar.

The said committee intends to gather accurate industry information, such as prices of poultry, livestock and corn commodities, as well as demand and supply trends.

“Their functions will not overlap. In fact, the private sector proposed to create the task force. They are also part of the price and volume watch committee,” Estoperez said.

The PSA said chicken production in the first quarter rose by 3.3 percent to 470,210 MT liveweight from 455,040 MT in the same period last year.