THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday that most subcategories of the livestock sector reported increased production in the first quarter, led by the egg-laying poultry segment.
The PSA said chicken egg production rose 8.8% to 142,010 metric tons (MT) during the quarter.
All regions recorded increases except Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Bicol Region. Davao Region recorded the highest increase of 43.4% to 8,360 MT.
“The three highest producing regions in the first quarter of 2019 were CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Central Luzon and Central Visayas. Among the regions, CALABARZON was the top producer of chicken egg at 43.86 thousand metric tons, accounting for 30.9% of the total… This was followed by Central Luzon with 19.8% and Central Visayas with 9.4%. Collectively, these three regions comprised 60.1% of the total chicken egg production of the country,” PSA said in the report.
As of April 1, the total adult female stock of native or improved chicken rose 0.4% year-on-year to 22.64 million birds. The inventory of foreign-strain layers rose 8.4% to 32.78 million birds.
“In January to March 2019, the average farmgate price of chicken egg in commercial farms was recorded at P4.68 per piece. This price was higher by 2.1% from the same period of the previous year’s price level of P4.59 per piece. During the reference quarter, the highest farmgate price was noted in January at P4.73 per piece,” it said.
Broiler chicken production rose 4.3% year-on-year to 459,060 metric tons (MT).
Twelve regions reported increases in production. In Davao Region output rose 24.4% to 19,430 MT.
“Among the regions, Central Luzon was the top producer of chicken at 166.54 thousand metric tons, liveweight, accounting for 36.3% of the total production. This was followed by CALABARZON with 16.8% and Northern Mindanao with 9.1%. More than half or 62.2% of the total chicken produced in the country were from these regions,” PSA said.
“The average farmgate price of broiler chicken in commercial farms from January to March 2019 was P72.86 per kilogram, liveweight. This was 16.8% lower from the previous year’s average price of P87.54 per kilogram, liveweight,” it said.
“During the period, the highest farmgate price was recorded in March at P76.31 per kilogram, liveweight, while the lowest was quoted in January at P68.32 per kilogram, liveweight,” it added.
Hog production in the first quarter of 2019 rose 1.6% year-on-year to 567,420 MT.
As of April 1, the total swine population fell 0.2% year-on-year to 12.73 million heads. Swine in backyard farms fell 1% to 8.06 million head, while stock in commercial farms rose 1.2% to 4.67 million head.
Central Luzon had the highest inventory with 2.1 million head, followed by CALABARZON with 1.57 million, and Western Visayas with 1.26 million.
PSA noted a 2.7% fall to P110.52 per kilogram (kg) in the average farmgate price of hogs for slaughter. The highest price was recorded in February at P111.20 per kg, while the lowest price was recorded in March at P109.76 per kg.
Carabao production fell 2.5% year-on-year to 31,190 MT.
Twelve regions recorded a decrease in production, with the Davao Region posting the largest decline at 7% to 2,400 MT. Western Visayas was the top carabao producer at 5,710 MT, followed by Ilocos Region at 2,610 MT, and the Bicol Region at 2,490 MT.
The average farmgate price of carabao for slaughter in the first three months was P97.67 per kg, 5% lower compared with a year earlier.
“During the quarter, the highest farmgate price was recorded in January at P98.37 per kilogram, liveweight, while the lowest was in February at P96.71 per kilogram, liveweight,” it said in the report. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
