The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the application for registration of P61.8 million hog production project of Zashi Hog Farm Inc. in Pampanga.

The new hog production plant was approved under the Agriculture, Fishery, and Forestry sector of the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), functioning as the transitional Strategic Investment Priorities Plan (SIPP) of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act or R.A. No. 11534.

Located in San Ildefonso, Magalang, Pampanga, the Zashi Hog project is adjacent to its existing pork production facility. The new facility has gestating building and farrowing facility specifically for the breeding, growing and raising of piglets.

Zashi is expected to breed 106 metric tons annually or 11,856 heads once commercial operations start, which is slated for March 2022.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said Zashi will start operation this month, March.

Rodolfo said the Zashi Hog farm adheres to strict biosecurity measure which is directly supportive of the Department of Agriculture’s P29.6 billion twin program dubbed as Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) and the Bantay African Swine Flu launched in early 2021.

“This will add essential support to the local hog industry by repopulating hogs as it was recently hit by the African Swine Fever (ASF). With its own in-house breeding facility, the company has ensured the safeness of piglets and as they grow, they will ensure a steady supply to its partner’s grow-out farm which will provide a steady supply to the market,” said Rodolfo.

The ASF still exists in 13 regions, 51 provinces, 676 municipalities and 3,626 barangays as of end January this year. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the country’s hog inventory dipped by about three (3) million as of early 2021.

Rodolfo said the Zashi project is part of the industry’s efforts to mitigate the shortfall in hog supply. Based on the DA’s forecast for 2022, a deficit of around 120,000 metric tons of pork is expected.

Data from the DA and the PSA showed the local hog industry is a P245-billion market, accounting for 44 percent of the livestock and poultry sector. As of 2020, the Philippines ranked as the 14th largest pork producer in the world, and was the second largest producer in Southeast Asia, next only to Vietnam.