As of July 1, 2018, the total hog inventory in Davao Region stood at 920,603 heads. It slightly grew by 0.99 percent from the previous year’s level of 911,615 heads. About 83 percent or 763,022 heads were raised in backyard farms while the remaining 17.0 percent or 157,581 heads were grown in commercial farms.

Inventory of goat in the region slightly dropped to 320,189 heads. This was lower by 1.40 percent than the previous year’s record. About 99 percent of these stocks were raised in the backyard farms while only a percent was reared in commercial farms.

Similarly, the total cattle population as of July 1, 2018 declined by 0.70 percent from last year’s level of 141,309 heads. Out of the total stocks, around 96 percent were grown in backyard farms while the remaining 4 percent were raised in the commercial farms.

On the other hand, carabao in the region as of July 1, 2018, had a total count of 154,143 heads. It recorded a decrease of 2.81 percent as compared to the 158,603 heads recorded last year. Almost all of the carabao stocks were raised in the backyard farms. There was only less than a percent of the carabao inventory in the commercial farms.

The total inventory of chicken in the region declined by 3.59 percent from the previous year’s level of 11,628,567 birds. The biggest decline was recorded in the inventory of broilers which dropped to 2,281,947 birds, registering a 13.82 percent decrease. Similarly, the stocks of chicken layers also went down by 6.37 percent from the previous year’s record of 1,546,225 birds.

As of July 1, 2018, the native/improved chicken had the largest stock share with 66.73 percent to the total chicken inventory in Davao Region. This was followed by broiler chicken with 20.35 percent share. Chicken layers had the smallest share with only 12.91 percent to the total stocks.

The total count of duck in the region, as of July 1, 2018, slid to 533,073 birds. This registered a 1.44 percent drop in stocks from the previous year’s level of 540,836 birds. Out of the total inventory, about 91 percent or 486,396 birds were raised in backyard farms while the remaining 9 percent or 46,677 birds were grown in commercial farms.

The reduction in stocks was traced from both the backyard and commercial farms. Duck inventory as of July 1, 2018 declined by 0.90 percent in backyard farms and 6.73 percent in commercial farms from last year’s inventory record.

Hog production in Davao Region reached 76,549 metric tons for the first semester of 2018. This posted a slight output improvement of 0.72 percent from last year’s production level of 75,999 metric tons. On the other hand, the production performance of the other three livestock animals which included the carabao, cattle and goat had recorded output declines. Cattle production in the region decreased by 2.49 percent from last year’s level of 6,433 metric tons. Similarly, carabao production slid to 5,837 metric tons, 4.26 percent lower than last year’s record. Goat production for January to June 2018 also dropped to 2,892 metric tons from 2,963 metric tons in the same period of 2017.

Chicken production in the region for the period of January to June 2018 grew by 4.08 percent, from 33,002 metric tons in 2017 to 34,349 metric tons in 2018. On the other hand, duck production reduced by 8.82 percent, from last year’s output of 646 metric tons.

Chicken egg production in Davao Region was estimated at 12,148 metric tons for the period of January to June 2018. This was 10.09 percent lower than last year’s level of 13,511 metric tons. On the other hand, production of duck egg inched up by 1.81 percent from the record of last year’s first semester output at 719 metric tons.

RUBEN D. ABARO, JR.

OIC-Regional Director