POULTRY and hog production rose in the fourth quarter, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
Chicken production in the last three months of 2022 rose 2.2% year on year to 483.03 thousand metric tons (MT), on a liveweight basis.
Central Luzon was the top producer of chicken at 179.14 thousand MT, followed by Calabarzon (78.73 thousand MT), Northern Mindanao (50.29 thousand MT), Western Visayas (31.71 thousand MT), and Central Visayas (27.29 thousand MT).
“These regions accounted for 74.3% of the country’s total chicken production during the quarter,” the PSA said.
Native chicken and layer chicken populations rose 3.9% and 3.4%, respectively. The inventory of broiler chicken decreased 1.9%.
The average farmgate price of chicken was P120.85 per kilogram, up 20.4% from a year earlier.
Chicken egg production during the quarter grew 0.2% year on year to 174.58 thousand MT.
Top producer was Calabarzon at 50.93 thousand MT, followed by Central Luzon (32.87 thousand MT), Central Visayas (19.51 thousand MT), Northern Mindanao (19.16 thousand MT), and Davao Region (9.09 thousand MT).
These regions accounted for 75.1% of national production.
According to the PSA, the average farmgate price of chicken egg realized by commercial farms was up 18.3% at P6.22 during the quarter.
United Broiler Raisers Association President Elias Jose M. Inciong said broiler production varies by how the industry gauges demand.
“The production conditions are ideal or optimal in the first and last quarters of every year. (During) cool temperatures, there is a bias towards lower equilibrium prices,” he said.
The PSA said duck output rose 4.3% year on year to 7.08 thousand MT.
Central Luzon posted volume of 2.14 thousand MT, followed by Soccsksargen (1.19 thousand MT), Western Visayas (0.72 thousand MT), Cagayan Valley (0.58 thousand MT), and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (0.35 thousand MT).
Bird populations grew in smallhold and semi-commercial farms by 9.7% and 30.2%, respectively. Some 70% of the bird inventory was held by smallholders while 28% were grown in semi-commercial farms.
The average farmgate price of duck for meat was P180.44 per kilogram, down 5.1% from a year earlier.
Hog production rose 3.4% year on year to 465.32 thousand MT, the PSA said.
Central Visayas was the top hog producer at 56.80 thousand MT, followed by Northern Mindanao (56.62 thousand MT), Western Visayas (54.39 thousand MT), Calabarzon (52.06 thousand MT), and Central Luzon (38.49 thousand MT).
“These regions accounted for 55.6% of the country’s total hog production during the quarter,” the PSA said.
According to the PSA, all farm categories posted increases in swine population.
The average farmgate price of hogs for slaughter was up 7% at P163.09 per kilogram during the quarter. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera
