‘Hogstel” Gives Hope To Small Hog Farmers

As the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF) devastates the hog industry of North Cotabato, a group of backyard hog farmers came to my farm yesterday to ask how I could help them.
It was a timely visit because three days earlier, I actually met with Agriculture Undersecretary DV Savellano to discuss strategies on how to help hog farmers recover from the ASF.
I presented to Usec Savellano the design of a hog raising strategy called “Hogstel Integrated Farming System,” where backyard farmers will “virtually” raise these in a Community Hog Raising Facility.
There was really not muvh difficulty on my part in coming up with the program because as early as the days when I was still Governor of North Cotabato, I had long made a design of this project which I called the Community Hogstel (Hogs Hotel) to elevate backyard hog raising to a commercial and more bio-secure status.
The facility, to be established by government in a bio-secure area away from the population centers, will include a feed mill which will utilize raw materials grown by farmers in the area.
It will also have a breeding, fattening, slaughterhouse and processing facilities.
What comes out of the facility would be meat ready for the market.
While organized backyard hog farmers will be “allowed” to raise hogs within the facility, only veterinarians and trained workers will be allowed within the facility to ensure bio-security.
The farmers’ earnings will depend on the number of piglets that they will pay for at the start of the program, less the expenses for feeds, biologics and management services.
When I laid out the program to the hog farmers who came to my farm yesterday, the traces of desperation disappeared from their faces.
“Naa pa diay mi paglaum,” the group leader said. (There’s still hope for us afterall.)
On Friday, I will present the blueprint of the “Hogstel Integrated Farming System” to DA Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. with the recommendation to establish a pilot project in the Province of North Cotabato.
#KungGustoMaramingParaan!
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!