The inventory also revealed that the province has a total of 280,778 head of livestock.

The province's farm animals count revealed that swine and carabao [water buffalo] are most numerous at 160,070 and 54,207 head, respectively, while goat and cattle counts are 49,397 and 17,104, respectively.

Meanwhile, Department of Agriculture Secretary, Arthur Yap, said the Philippines will soon break into the livestock export market as the country is about to be globally declared foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-free.

This will be the first time that the Philippines will export livestock products, Mr Yap told a media briefing at the Nueva Ecija Convention on 2 September.

He said that the Visayas and Mindanao have already been internationally accredited as FMD-free and the government is filing a claim for Luzon to be also declared free of the disease that afflicts carabaos and cattle.

To support the export of meat products, Mr Yap said the government, in cooperation with the private sector, will invest in world-class slaughterhouses, refrigeration and processing facilities to make the country more competitive in the global market for livestock products.