Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Aster Caberte expressed concern over the continued dwindling of pork supply in Bohol, even at major supermarkets of the province.
Caberte raised the issue after monitoring at local markets confirmed the scarcity of pork in the entire province.
She said this was due to the increasing demand of pork amid the booming tourism industry. She projected that restaurants and resorts will be encountering the problems on where to get their next supply of pork.
Majority of the hog raisers started to use feeds causing the production cost to be slightly more expensive, she said.
Caberte bared her plan to tap bigger suppliers of pork as top possible solution to stabilize the market.
A check made at Alturas Supermarket Corp, owner of the biggest piggery in the province, confirmed that they can no longer catch up with the demand of pork in the past few months.
The demand skyrocketed but the supply level remained the same, Caberte said.
She encouraged hog raisers to increase their output to avoid getting into the same problem in Siquijor where the price of pork has gone to P180 per kilo as compared to the P150 per kilo price in Bohol.
The DTI director pointed out the need for more investments in agro-business particularly in hog raising.
The concern has reached the office of Department of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol after he met with the major livestock growers in the province during his visit in Bohol last week. He assured the public of his personal attention in addressing the issue.