Laboratory Exercise No.

DETERMINATION OF THE STATUS, PROBLEMS

AND PROSPECTSOF SWINE INDUSTRY
INTHE PHILIPPINES

Introduction

The swine industry is one of the most

progressive among the animal industries in the

country. This is attributed to the fact that Filipinos

are naturally considered pork eating people. Swine

raising seems to be a favorite venture not only of our farmers but various professionals as

well.

Swine industry is beset with a lot of problems. Small producers are encountering

problems in financing, production as well as marketing. There is always competition

between large and small producers.

As student taking up this specific Swine Production course, one ought to know the

status, problems and aspects of the swine industry. Knowledge on these things may not

give one a complete picture of what the industry is all about. Nevertheless, this may be a

good start to know and learn more about it.

Objectives

Upon completion of this exercise, the students are expected to:

 1. gather statistical data of swine population in the country;
2. evaluate the status of the industry;
3. cite the problems besetting the industry; and
4. discuss the prospects of the industry.

Methodology

1. Obtain necessary data or information, e.g. hog population by region and type of

production (commercial or backyard); pork production; importation and exportation of breeders

and pork; supply and demand; per capita consumption of pork; and even problems of the

industry from sources like Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Department of Trade and

Industry, Bureau of Animal Industry and from local journals, newspapers and other

pertinent media. Use the country stat website like countrystat.bas.gov.ph

2. Gather the above stated information/data for the last five years.

3. Visit the University Hog Farm and some hog farms in the nearby places and gather

information with regards to the most common problems faced by the swine producers.
 Questions/Critical Thinking

1. Based on the gathered data, what is the prospect of the hog industry in the country?
 The hog industry’s prospect in the country is definitely good because the Philippines
is a pork loving nation. It is present in many of our everyday dishes as such demand
will continue to remain strong despite price fluctuations. There is a lot of potential for
it to grow which is beneficial for hog raisers because there is so much demand, we
actually need to import supply from other countries. The industry also does not suffer
from the ruminant industry’s problems such as low calving rate and large land
requirement.

2. Relate the data on per capita consumption of pork to the pork production
data. Do this using data for the last five years. Discuss your answer.

Per capita
consumption of
Year Pork production,
pork, kg
kg

2017 14.67 kilograms 2,265,015 (mt)

2018 14.97 kilograms 2,319,764 (mt)
2019 15.22 kilograms 2,296,651 (mt)
2020 14.90 kilograms 2,142,647 (mt)
2021 14.92 kilograms n/a
 According to data from the OECD, for the past 5 years the average per capita

consumption of pork in the Philippines has hovered around 14.94kg per person. This is

lower than OECD’s global average of 22.88kg per person

3. Give recommendations/and or possible solutions to the problems cited by the

farmers/hog producers visited

Problems Possible solutions

Feed shortage Alternative feeds,
Subsidy from the government
Poor veterinary services Invest in a veterinary scholarships
partnership with agricultural schools

Regionalized central hog raiser’s

cooperative
Poor market linkage
Waste management Adopt new technologies that
directly eliminate waste such as bio-
fuel and filtration systems for liquid
waste
Biological threats (ASF) Implement stronger biosecurity
measures and subsidize local
producers affected by ASF
Cut-throat price competition vs Take measures to lower feed cost by
imports subsidizing local feed
manufacturers, this in turn passes
the savings onto the consumers