Dry spell putting P6.3-B Negros poultry industry at risk

BACOLOD CITY — The dry spell is putting Negros Occidental’s P6.3-billion poultry industry at risk, as animal deaths continue to rise in the province. "The dry spell places at high risk the four million native chickens and fighting cocks and the 1.5 million broilers produced every month in Negros Occidental," Agriculture Regional Director Larry Nacionales told the Negros Occidental Poultry Raisers Association, Inc. on Friday. The Agriculture department is helping the province contain animal deaths by distributing vaccines and drugs, he said. Provincial veterinarian Renante Decena said broilers are highly vulnerable to extreme heat. As of last week, his office recorded P3.04 million in hog, livestock and poultry losses in 21 towns and cities in the province. He said the dead animals belonged to backyard raisers. Nacionales said the province’s poultry sector plays a pivotal role in Western Visayas’ agriculture sector since it now leads the region’s overall poultry inventory with more than 6.5 million heads as of the fourth quarter of last year. The figure includes over 1.2 million heads of broiler, 500,000 heads of layer and 4.7 million heads of native chicken and game fowl. Negros Occidental’s broiler industry, which produces 1.5 million birds a month, is worth P1.8 billion, while the layer industry is worth P500 million. The game fowl industry is worth P4 billion. — Nanette L. Guadalquiver, BusinessWorld