Pig farmers lose SGD 60 million due to conflict in Peru

He pig producers market in Peru recorded losses S/ 60 millions from the beginning of the social conflict over the advancement of the elections to the present, said Ana Trelles, manager of the Peruvian Association of Pig Breeders (asoporki) in RPP News.

According to the representative, blockades on highways, mainly on South of the countryprevented inputs such as corn and soybeans from being fed to pigs, resulting in a 25% drop in production.

In addition, from 500 to a thousand pigs they could not be taken to slaughterhouses for slaughter and sale. This resulted in a daily loss of around one million soles per day, as each 100 kg pig costs an average of SGD 1,000.

“In Arequipa, we have pig farms that supply the southern zone, and there were losses, they lost capital, they lost trucks and pigs that went to slaughter, there were also losses due to lack of food, and breeding had to be reduced,” — said Ana Trelles.

Affected small producers

There are 600 thousand people in the country. families who depend on this activity, 25% of which is concentrated in southern Peru; that is, about 120,000. Those in this part of the country are small producers, that is, they raise up to 50 pigs, the sale of which is their only economic livelihood.

“Many pig farmers have stopped production, especially in southern Peru, for example: Puno, Madre de Dios and Cusco…these are small growers who can grow from 3 to 20 or up to 50 and feed them in their small gardens with corn, soybeans and leftovers from their crop,” Trelles explained.

Parenting Facts

Producers are currently facing rising prices for key inputs for processing balanced pig feed, which consists of corn (70%), soybeans (20%) and wheat (10%), which have risen in price by almost 80% due to a shortage in the country.

From birth to process household chores (slaughter) a pig at the age of 150 days, during this period it needs about 250 kg of balanced feed in order to weigh from 100 to 110 kg.

There are 250,000 breeding queens in the country, 100,000 of them are grown on technical farms, which provide up to 80% of the total number of pigs consumed in the country, the rest falls on an average of 150,000 queens from small livestock breeders.