A Dynamic Philippine Swine Industry: Key to Meeting Challenges and Technological Innovations

In recent years, the Philippines have seen a robust swine industry, with record high farm gate price per kg of live hogs. This augurs well for swine raisers considering the eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease as well as the absence of major disease outbreaks. The improved housing which resulted in the proliferation of tunnel ventilated houses was one of the contributory factors for such a phenomenon. With improved air quality inside pig barn, respiratory diseases were controlled resulting in better feed conversion of hogs. Improved post-harvest technologies for corn have also minimized incidence of aflatoxin thus resulting in safe and effective formulation of diets. The presence of a swine breeder farm accreditation program tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the genetic quality of breeder gilts and boars through periodic ocular inspection of more than 30 breeder farms in the Philippines has guaranteed an improvement of reproductive parameters for swine. A yearly monitoring by a swine research foundation where volunteer breeder farms make available their production records has been very indispensable in providing effective management strategies for continuing improvement of farm efficiencies to swine farms in the country. A swine genomic research program is underway in partnership with the academe, government and breeder farm associations to produce the most appropriate breeder pigs and harness further their growing potential and carcass merits. Natural pig farming to address climate change and other environmental concerns is also spreading fast especially in the countryside. This is being spearheaded by the concerned government agencies in partnership with organic agriculture advocates or practitioners. Finally, waste treatment facilities to convert biogas into electricity have been installed to numerous breeder farms with most of them enrolled in the “Clean Development Mechanism” program whereby carbon credits are sold. Indeed, the dynamism of the Philippine swine industry is in full swing, and partnership with each Asian neighbor would be very indispensable in preparation for the integration of the ASEAN Growth Region and Economy in the near future.