By Manny Piñol
Two agencies of government attached to the Department of Agriculture have offered to assist beleaguered poultry farmers in the country by buying excess production of chicken now and selling this during the lean months of the year.
The Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and the National Tobacco Administration, which owns a poultry dressing plant and storage facility in the North, have approved plans to engage in the buying of broiler chicken from small farmers which would then be dressed and kept in cold storage facilities to be released to the market middle of this year when the supplies would be less.
The plans were approved by the board of both FTI and NTA, an agency involved in the tobacco industry but which established a poultry dressing plant and cold storage facility in the North as a livelihood program to support tobacco farmers.
The NTA’s participation in the program, however, will have to depend on the approval by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for the agency to use its available funds for the operation of its poultry processing and storage facility.
I have already endorsed their request for the release of funds for the program to DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno last Tuesday.
The FTI, on the other hand, will start buying from the poultry farmers as soon as they are able to identify a dressing plant and cold storage facility which could accommodate the stocks.
The offer of the two agencies for help for the country’s broiler raisers has already been relayed to United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA President Bong Inciong.
Farm gate prices of chicken have dropped to as low as P38 per kilo live last week as the poultry sector saw a huge increase in production which happened just as large volumes of imported chicken arrived in the country for the Christmas holidays.
Poultry farmers also complained that while farm gate prices have fallen, the market price of dressed chicken has remained high, indicating a market and price manipulation by traders.
The plans of FTI and NTA are expected to stabilize the farm gate prices of chicken and protect the farmers from losses.
(Photos of chicken in the farm and dressed chicken in the market were downloaded from public websites while the succeeding images show the letters of FTI and NTA to the DA Secretary and the endorsement to Sec. Diokno.)
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