Photo Release

Improving the livestock industry: Sen. Cynthia Villar presides over the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform’s hearing on several bills seeking to address the issues besetting the country’s livestock industry Thursday, January 13, 2022. Senate Bill No. 139 authored by Villar and Sen. Nancy Binay seeks to strengthen and rationalize the livestock industry in order to strengthen its development, protection and regulatory functions, including the promotion of dairy and native animals and to provide for a livestock development fund. In the hearing, Villar asked Dr. Karlo Adriano of the National Economic and Development Authority the possibility of substituting corn with high-protein vegetables as livestock feeds. Villar said in her visit to a model cattle farm in Thailand, she learned that high-protein vegetables that are grown in the area are fed to the livestock. Adriano, in his presentation, pointed out that yellow corn is the main component of animal feed production and the main driver of livestock and poultry prices. He assured Villar that the agency will look into Thailand’s model. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)