CANBERRA’S Australian Agency for International Development (Ausaid) has extended a grant of $800,000 (P32 million) for the second phase of a project to totally eradicate foot and mouth disease (FMD) among hogs in the Philippines.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA), disclosed that the Philippine government will provide counterpart funding of $500,000 (P20 million).

“We requested an extension for the project and it was approved by the Australian government,” said Dr. Reildrin Morales, the BAI’s national coordinator for its anti-FMD task force, in a press briefing after the ceremonies commemorating the agency’s 78th anniversary held in Quezon City on Thursday.

Morales said the project, dubbed as “FMD Eradication Project in the Philippines,” has four components, namely, monitoring and surveillance, advocacy, quarantine and animal health management, and vaccination, particularly in Region 4.

On its web site, Ausaid said the first phase of the project was carried out from 1996 to 2003 and was extended until 2007. The Australian agency set aside $9.2 million for the project.

The BAI said Ausaid’s support has enabled the Philippines to achieve a lower incidence of FMD, and FMD-free status for all central and southern regions of the Philippines.

Morales said the second phase of the project will be implemented in two years, and the goal is to enable the Philippines to achieve a status of “FMD-free without vaccination.”

“Achieving that status will allow us to trade with just about any country in the world,” he said.

He explained that the Philippines’ application at the OIE is for “FMD-free with vaccination.” While achieving this status will already be favorable for the country, doing away with vaccination will be a big boost to the Philippines’ efforts to export pork to lucrative foreign markets.

The BAI said it is eyeing to achieve the “FMD-free without vaccination” status for the Philippines by 2010.

Earlier, the DA had already declared the entire Philippines as FMD-free.

Consumers, particularly those in the Visayas and Mindanao, should brace themselves for higher prices of pork products due to the tightness in local supply.

CANBERRA’S Australian Agency for International Development (Ausaid) has extended a grant of $800,000 (P32 million) for the second phase of a project to totally eradicate foot and mouth disease (FMD) among hogs in the Philippines.

LEGAZPI CITY—Despite reeling from the effects of past and recent disasters, Albay province remains steadfast in reclaiming the glory of being one of the country’s leading coconut producers by planting 15 million new coco trees on a 150,000-hectare plantation by 2010.

PALAUIG, Zambales—The government is stepping up effort to turn idle and what used to be unproductive agricultural lands of this town into a major food producer, with the introduction of off-season vegetable production.

CANDELARIA, Zambales—A couple from this sleepy agricultural town is now trailblazing the way to how to become successful agribusinessmen from being “landless” farmers.

Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc., the biggest ceramic tile-manufacturing company in the Philippines, is upbeat that it will have a decisive finish in 2008.

TARGETING to institutionalize the local natural-gas industry, the Department of Energy (DOE) has entered into an agreement with the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) for the development of a mechanism for organizing the Philippine Natural Gas Institute.