The Philippines Cattle Industry is the least developed in terms of technical, production and organization I the Agriculture Industry sector.
Declining cattle population in the Philippines has been noted since more than a decade ago and yet demand for beef continues to increase.
It must be acknowledged that since it is among the least developed sectors in agriculture, it needs to be upgraded. Currently, cattle raising is a privately held enterprise such as smallhold or backyard type of industry.
It is thus in need of technical assistance since most or 94% is of the backyard type. In ASEAN, the Philippines has the lowest growth rate in terms of cattle population, scoring a “negative” in growth in population rates.
The solution has been to import cattle from Australia and even India. Now, the Department of Agriculture is set to import cattle from Latin America.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) laid down guidelines that will allow the country to import the breeding materials.
The protocols have already been set by the OIE according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol. This will enable the country to import cattle from Brazil and Argentina without violating foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) free without vaccination status policy.
“It would involve the quarantine of the cattle for six months in an area to be cleared by the OIE before the animals are shipped to the Philippines,” Piñol said.
“It would involve the quarantine of the cattle for six months in an area to be cleared by the OIE before the animals are shipped to the Philippines,” Piñol said.
“Since all animals in both countries receive mandatory FMD vaccination, the six-month quarantine will be enough time to determine whether the animals are healthy or not,” the DA secretary stated.
Private sector investors will be provided with an area and support by the DA for the establishment of the breeding program.
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