INTRODUCTIO

N
General Situation of the Philippine
Swine Industry

 Swine raising is a 191-billion industry. It is the

second contributor to Philippine Agriculture after
rice. The Philippine swine industry is ranked
eighth in terms of volume of pork production and
number of breeding sows, based on Philippine
Council For Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural
Resources Research and Development
 Pork is a very important item in most Filipino’s meal. The
demand for pork in Filipino cuisine is increasing. As cited in
the Philippine Recommends for Swine Production over the
past decade, pork has consistently represented more than 55%
of the total daily animal meat consumption of Filipinos. It is
also considered as the most stable, developed and rapidly
growing local industry.
 Swine raising is very popular in various parts of the region
because pork is the usual meat served during parties and
occasions. As a tradition during town fiesta people expect
nearly every household to have lechon on their dining tables.
Pork can easily be processed and sold in this form.
 Swine is also a fast grower animal. It takes only about six
months to raise a pig. Modern breeds of pigs grow fast,
weigh heavier, produce more piglets, and have better meat.
 The Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed the
country’s swine inventory reached almost 12M heads as of
January 1, 2015. This was 1.68% higher than in 2014’s
inventory of 11.8 M heads. Stocks in backyard farms went
up by 1.68%. Likewise stocks in commercial farms grew by
1.75% against the 2014 level. About 65% of the total stocks
were raised in backyard farms and 35% in commercial
farms.
 Most swine raised in the country are native breeds fed
mostly of rice bran and kitchen wastes. They attain 70-80
kg body weight in 315 to 405 days and need about 6-7
kilogram of feed to gain a kilogram live weight.
 These days it takes only about six months to raise a
pig to a weight of about 90 kilograms. Modern breeds of
pigs grow fast, weigh heavier, produce more piglets, and
have better meat.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of
Swine Production
 Advantages
 Swine use concentrates well and are efficient converters of
feed into human food.
 Swine are prolific animals.
 The enterprise requires small investment compared to other
farm animals.
 Pigs are sold any time after weaning.
 Pigs even culled are sold high in the market.
 Swine have high dressing percentage.
 Pork has high acceptability in different cuisines.
 Disadvantages
 Supply of feeds is one of the problems in swine enterprise.
 Diseases and parasites cause great losses in swine production.
 Prices of market hogs, feeds, as well as drugs and medicine
for swine are always changing.
 Swine farms have high objectionable odor.
Chapter 2- Breeds and Breeding
 Selection of breeding animals is one of the most important
aspects in starting a pig farm. Selection ensures the choice of
the best animals for reproduction. Most of the productive and
reproductive traits are greatly influenced by the kind of
breeding stocks in the herd.
 Is there a best breed? Is the most asked question about
breed. There is no best breed for all conditions.
 Performance of a pig is influenced by its environment and
its genetic potential. On the average, 70% of the
performance of the animal could be attributed to its
environment such as nutrition and feeding, housing, health,
management practices and climate and 30% to its genetic
potential. Hence, it is also important for us to look into the
blood line of the animals. Each breed has its own set of
characteristics which differentiates it from other breeds.
 Genetic improvement in pig farms leads to production of
quality finishers and birth of large, vigorous litters.
 Breed- is a group of animals that has specific traits or
characteristic in common
 Breeding Systems
 Breeding systems are systems of mating animals to produce a
purebreed or a crossbreed. These are the methods employed by
breeders for breeding animals. The system of mating is
particularly important in pig improvement since use of the
correct system can greatly increase production.
 System of breeding
 Inbreeding. Breeding of closely-related animals. This is done
to purify the blood line of the animals since the similarity of
the animals within the group is increased. Strong and weak
points of the animals will be exposed under this system.
Continuous inbreeding is not recommendable due to its
negative effect on the production performance of the animal. It
usually decreases vigor because it brings together the
recessive genes with undesirable effects in the resulting
crossbred. These homozygous recessive individuals are
usually inferior.
 
 However, inbreeding is not always disadvantageous. If strict
selection is practiced, it may be useful for the purpose of
eliminating defects. It brings out the desired character in a
pure form and character may then be retained.
 Example: Father Mother Father x Daughter Son x Mother
Brother x Sister
 Effects of inbreeding
 Reduction in the strength and vigor of piglets.
 Decrease in the number of pigs born and weaned
 Decrease in the weight of piglets at birth and weaning
 Sexual maturity. Seemingly, the rate of physiologic maturity
of both male and female pigs is retarded slightly by
inbreeding.
 Effect on ovulation and spermatogenesis
 Purebreeding. A system of breeding wherein unrelated animals
of the same breed are mated to each other, resulting to the
production of purebreeds. This is done to maintain the breed.
 Crossbreeding. Breeding of two animals from different breeds.
This is practiced to combine traits of different breeds. This is the
system recommended for the production of slaughter pigs. It is
highly recommended for the production of market hogs for two
important reasons, namely: a) to obtain hybrid vigor or
heterosis which is defined as the change in performance of the
crossbred progeny over the average of the parental breeds; and
to bring together the desirable characteristics of the parental
breeds.
 Advantages of crossbreeding
 increased vigor and growth rate of litters
 larger litters
 increased production efficiency to about 5% to 10%
 Increased disease resistance.
 Types of crossbreeding
 two-way-cross- mating using two different breeds
 three-way-cross- mating using three different breeds
 four-way-cross- mating using four different breeds
 Upgrading. Upgrading is a system of breeding wherein an
inferior breed is improved by continued crossing. It is
commonly used among native breeds. The native breeds are
usually crossed with pure breeds of swine.