The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the application for registration of Php61.8 million (USD1.1 million) hog producing plant of Zashi Hog Farm Inc., which will ensure a steady pork supply in the Philippines.
Making it happen in the local hog industry, the new plant was approved under the Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry sector of the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), functioning as the transitional Strategic Investment Priorities Plan (SIPP) of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act or R.A. No. 11534.
Located in San Ildefonso, Magalang, Pampanga, the new project is adjacent to its existing pork producer project. The new one is under a Hog Breeding Agreement, involving the establishment of Gestating Building and Farrowing facility specifically for the breeding, growing and raising of piglets with a standard weight of nine (9) kilograms per head.
“This will add essential support to the local hog industry by repopulating hogs as it was recently hit by the African Swine Fever (ASF). With its own in-house breeding facility, the company has ensured the safeness of piglets and as they grow, they will ensure a steady supply to its partner’s grow-out farm which will provide a steady supply to the market,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said, as Zashi is expected to breed 106 metric tons annually or 11,856 heads once commercial operations start, which is slated for March 2022.
Zashi Hog Farm adheres to strict biosecurity measures which is directly supportive of the Department of Agriculture’s Php29.6 billion twin program dubbed as Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) and the Bantay ASF launched in early 2021. The INSPIRE program focuses of hog repopulation while Bantay ASF is a local government unit (LGU) and community-based program to prevent, control and manage ASF.
The ASF still exists in 13 regions, 51 provinces, 676 municipalities and 3,626 barangays as of end January this year. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s hog inventory dipped by about three (3) million as of early 2021.
With the new hog producing plant, the BOI commended the Zashi’s initiative as part of the industry’s efforts to mitigate the shortfall in hog supply. Based on the DA’s forecast for 2022, a deficit of around 120,000 metric tons of pork is expected.
Furthermore, hog producing is next only to rice with respect to contribution to the total value of agricultural production. Based on the data of the Agriculture department and the PSA, the local hog industry is a Php245-billion market, accounting for 44 percent of the livestock and poultry sector. As of 2020, the Philippines ranked as the 14th largest pork producer in the world, and was the second largest producer in Southeast Asia, next only to Vietnam.