SEJONG, July 21 (Yonhap) — Statistics Korea reported on Friday that the amount of pigs raised in South Korea decreased in the second quarter of the year in comparison to the same period of the previous year, due to the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).
The data collected on June 1 showed that 11.1 million pigs were raised in the April-June period, which is a 0.5 percent decrease from the same period of the previous year.
The country reported eight ASF cases between December 2022 and May 2023.
The number of beef cattle also experienced a decrease, dropping 1.3 percent to 3.68 million during the same period, due to decreasing prices.
The report also showed a 9.7 percent decrease in the number of ducks, amounting to 947,000, as some farms, which experienced avian influenza outbreaks between December last year and February, did not resume production.
On the other hand, the number of broiler chickens rose 4.3 percent to 110.86 million, due to the increasing demand for the traditional chicken soup “samgyetang” during the summer season.
This file photo taken Nov. 8, 2022, shows "hanwoo" cattle, one of the local breeds, at a market in Hampyeong, 274 kilometers southwest of Seoul. (Yonhap)
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)