BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Agriculture (DA-CAR) warned the public on the rampant sale and distribution of alleged adulterated feeds in the remote communities around the region that tend to affect the growth and development of their livestock.
DA-CAR regional executive director Dr. Cameron Odsey reported that the agency had been receiving and validating reports on the sale and distribution of adulterated feeds which are of low quality and have no significant impact on the growth and development of livestock.
He claimed that the adulterated feeds are purely being sold for profit and contain pathogens that pose serious threats to the growth of the livestock.
The DA-CAR official called on the different local governments to intensify their monitoring on the sale and distribution of feeds in their respective areas of jurisdiction to prevent the presence of the adulterated feeds will surely impact on the livestock supply in the region.
Director Odsey pointed out that adulterated feeds can easily be detected by livestock raisers because the growth and development of their animals are stagnant despite being heavily provided with sufficient supply of feeds that is why appropriate coordination must be immediately done with the concerned offices of the local governments to prevent the further sale and distribution of these adulterated feeds.
“It is unfortunate that this sale and distribution of adulterated feeds started when we are currently confronted with our pressing problems on the hog industry because of the African Swine Fever. We have to be vigilant on the quality of feeds we are buying to prevent us from compromising the growth and development of our respective livestock,” Odsey stressed.
According to him, the government and the private sector could not afford another setback in the country’s livestock industry, especially with the onset of the Yuletide season where the demand of meat is expected to significantly increase thus the need for vigilance on the quality of feeds livestock.
He advised livestock raisers to immediately report to the concerned authorities their observation on the stunting of their animals despite being provided with abundant supply of feeds in their daily meals to allow the experts to test the quality of the feeds and to prevent the further losses that will be incurred by the hog raisers once their pigs will be affected by the poor quality feeds.
The DA and concerned livestock industry stakeholders in the region are currently repopulating the heavily impacted livestock by the African Swine Fever over the past several years.
The Cordillera is one of the regions heavily impacted by the ASF causing heavy losses to the hog industry over the past several years amidst efforts of concerned government agencies in partnership with local governments to mitigate its impact.