Sec. Dar: Davao ASF-Free

THE Davao Region is African Swine Fever (ASF)-free as of Tuesday, May 3, 2022, according to Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Dr. William Dar.

During a press conference on May 3, Dar revealed that only 20 barangays from four municipalities in three regions are left with active cases of ASF nationwide. This is in comparison against the 3,749 barangays affected during its outbreak in the country.

Dar said the DA is working on providing hog repopulation programs for the hog sectors affected by ASF.

“Mayroon tayong budget na (We have a budget of around) P4.1 billion pesos to repopulate the hog industry this year: clustering, backyard, hog raiser, multiplier farms, breeder farms,” Dar said.

At the same time, the DA secretary revealed that they are developing two ASF vaccines currently undergoing second phase of testing in the country, but withheld further details on its developments for the meantime.

“Ang initial results ay first phase, maganda ang kinalabasan (The initial results of the first phase are promising). We are now in the second phase, after the second phase, pwede natin masabi whether this will be available (we can determine whether it will be made available). This is soon, by June mayroon nang resulta (we will have the reults),” Dar said.

According to a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Davao on April 28, the pork production industry is one of the underperforming sectors in Davao Region for the year 2021. (Read full story on sunstar.com.ph/davao) /