Incoming shipment of meat and meat products in Negros Occidental dropped by 89.56 percent in September compared to May when the importation of livestock and poultry products reached 82 tons.
Dr. Renante Decena, provincial veterinarian, said yesterday that the September importation was only 8.56 tons which is 14.40 percent lower than its average monitoring of 10 tons per month.
The factors that contributed to the decrease are the close monitoring of the meat inspection task force organized by the Provincial Veterinary Office to control its entry, low production of meat, the lean months’ situation, and the consumer demand, he said.
Decena, however, also said that the influx of these products may increase during the holidays.
The decrease of importation also means that the market of locally-produced meat and its byproducts has bigger shares, which means they will be able to sell their produce, he said.
Decena reminded all local government units to set up their own meat shops and meat processing centers so that they can address the needs of their local market and to strengthen the meat production of the province.
He cited the cities of Sipalay, Sagay, and Kabankalan and the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto that have already established their meat shops and processing centers that have sustained the needs of their markets.
Through this project, Negros Occidental can group all processing centers and meat shops and can work together in the meat production and create a brand name for the province, Decena said.*LTG
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