Egg producers see no supply shortage by April

CONTRARY to the remark of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., the Philippine Egg Board Association (PEBA) said yesterday that it is not seeing a shortage in egg supplies come April despite concerns over bird flu.

PEBA president Francis Uyehara said that based on their projection, the country will have enough supply of eggs at least until April and May due to better production.

ā€œSa ating grupo sa industriya, wala tayong inaasahang kakulangan sa itlog sa darating na April at May. Nagulat din kami doon sa detalye na lumabas sa Department of Agriculture,ā€ Uyehara said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

He added: ā€œSa aming projection, meron tayong sapat na supply ng itlog at least hanggang April at May. Mas mataas po ang ating produksyon ng itlog ngayong taon kumpara nu’ng nakaraang taon of the same month,ā€ he added.

To recall, Tiu Laurel said that the country may face a supply shortage by April, even as the Philippines has yet to experience a widespread outbreak of bird flu. He, however, emphasized that there is still time to prevent the projected shortage.

May chance pa naman ma-avert itong sinasabi ko sa Abril dahil Pebrero pa lang naman. But at least, looking forward, there is a problem, and we will act on it,ā€ Tiu Laurel said.

The Agriculture chief noted that a bird flu outbreak in the US had driven egg prices up due to the culling of millions of egg-laying chickens. With this, he said the DA was taking proactive measures to stabilize the egg supply and curb potential price hikes amid concerns over bird flu.

For PEBA, Uyehara said he doesn’t also expect the price of eggs to spike.

He, however, pointed out that their projections may change due to certain factors such as possible ā€œmultiple outbreakā€ of bird flu in the country.

Uyehara said that with the plan of DA to import hatching eggs, there may be an oversupply of eggs that may affect local farmers. (GMA Integrated News)

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