Perspectives of the livestock sector in the Philippines: A review

Arth David Sol Ortega,Ana Celina Soriano,Somsy Xayalath,Winson Gutierrez,Csaba Szabó,Malam Abulbashar Mujitaba

doi:10.34101/actaagrar/1/9101

Arth David Sol Ortega, Ana Celina Soriano + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.34101/actaagrar/1/9101

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Abstract

The Philippine livestock industry is a vital component in the country's agricultural sector. It contributes around 18.23 percent of the gross output value in agriculture and provides livelihood to many people living in rural areas, signifying its importance with regard to the country’s economy. The constantly increasing demand for animal protein associated with the increase of the world’s population led to the intensification of livestock production, realized through the various initiatives implemented by the government, such as the import of high producing purebreds of various species. This strategy greatly influenced the country's animal genetic resource's diversity and increased food animals' population; however, it impacted the native breeds of food animals. Understanding the characteristics, performance and value of native and exotic breeds is essential to prioritize their livestock industry existence. Thus, this paper aims to characterize various native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines and assess the current conservation of native animals.

Highlights

The Philippines is an agricultural country, with crops and animal resources as a significant contributor to its gross domestic product
Native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines greatly differ in character, adaptability and production performance
The introduction of modern genotypes of livestock made a significant contribution to the development of the Philippine livestock industry and with their competitive advantage over the native breeds jeopardized the existence of the latter and led to an increase of nondescript animals

Summary

Introduction

The Philippines is an agricultural country, with crops and animal resources as a significant contributor to its gross domestic product. Livestock production in the country is broadly classified into small-scale semisubsistence (backyard/smallholder) and commercial production systems. There are millions of farms in the country, of which is majorly contributed by backyard farms, while, officially registered commercial farms is very low (188 farms) (PSA, 2012; D.A.-B.A.I., 2021). Operations from these two different production systems vary, as backyard farming relies more on local resources. Commercial farms rely more on importing animal genetic and feed resources and operating in intensive production systems involving primary animal commodities. Most livestock species reared in the Philippines are under small-scale production (Figure 1)

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