The Governing Board of the National Tobacco Administration on Tuesday has approved an additional P10-million budget for its Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita to maximize its slaughtering and meat processing capacity to augment pork supply in the market.
Agriculture Secretary and NTA Board Chairman William Dar in his recent visit to the slaughtering and meat processing facility in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, directed the agency to expand the product coverage of the NTA Kadiwa to the National Capital Region to meet the high demand and help stabilize price.
Prices of pork in Metro Manila markets have gone up from 380 to 400 pesos per kilo as many hog raisers gone bankrupt last year because of the pandemic that resulted in a minimal source of hogs.
According to NTA Administrator Robert Victor G. Seares Jr., the NTA will assist the government, through the Department of Agriculture, to stop the continuous rise of prices of pork in NCR markets.
The P10-million budget represents the initial budgetary requirement to purchase live hogs from the Ilocos provinces and Abra.
“The hogs will be sourced from ASF protected zones to ensure safety of the consuming public,” Seares said.
He added that the hogs will be slaughtered at the NTA Kadiwa and the meat will be delivered to the NCR through the Kadiwa Food Terminals of the Department of Agriculture, at an average volume of 5,000 metric tons per day.
The project will be a collaboration between the NTA Kadiwa, the DA Central Office through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service/Division with the Food Terminal, Inc..
The NTA Kadiwa, an NMIS “AA” accredited facility, had a maximum capacity to slaughter 80 hogs and fabricate 6 tons of pork per day.
“The initial target for slaughtering will be 520 live hogs or 52,000 kilos live weight from second week of February to first week of March,” added Seares.
Kadiwa is a market system initiated by the DA to trade agricultural goods at a reasonable low price to the end users. This is a direct link between the farmers/fisherfolks to the consuming public.
NTA Kadiwa is a major component of the agency’s intervention program that seeks to provide tobacco farmers with additional sources of income outside their regular trade.
Secretary Dar in his visit to the slaughtering and meat processing facility commended the NTA in undertaking the project.
The agency is currently implementing under the NTA Kadiwa program a Hog Fattening project, poultry dressing, and the TESDA-accredited Training School for Slaughtering.
Reference:
Neyo E. Valdez
PRO V, NTA
DA-NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION
