Cutting cost of poultry production necessary in Philippines

This was a statement recently made by Bureau of Animal Industry Director Davinio Catbagan. He pointed out that foreign buyers are always on the lookout for competitive prices, and that even though the country is free of bird flu, poultry products still need to be competitively priced.

Catbagan says that Philippine poultry growers find it hard to compete against their biggest export rival - Thailand - because the cost of production inputs, particularly feed, continues to rise due to the rising cost of feed inputs. He added that the Department of Agriculture is working on increasing local production of corn to lessen reliance on the increasingly expensive imported corn. Bringing down the cost of production, he says, is an important factor in increasing the country's competitiveness in chicken products.

Other measures necessary to achieve the export goal include ensuring good genetic material, proper disease prevention and control and implementing good biosecurity measures.

Catbagan said the Philippines has good export potential for its poultry products to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.