Inbreeding affecting pig farming in state: Experts
Source: Chronicle News Service / Premchand Thongam
Imphal, May 26 2021:
Though several educated youths in the state are adopting piggery as a means of income generation successfully, most of the pigs in the state have become products of generations of inbreeding and the situation has affected the productivity as such piglets have low immune and prone to infections.
According to CAU College of Agriculture, Department of Animal Sciences head Dr Th Ranadhir, generations of inbreeding among the pigs being reared in the state has resulted in infertility, malnutrition, reduced breeding and low immune among the pigs which make them prone to diseases and infections.
Cases of frequent abortion are also rising and it is affecting the farmers, he said.
Stating that inbreeding is a major problem in piggery, Dr Ranadhir stressed the need for replacing parental stock from time to time to address the problems arising out of inbreeding.
The problem is not limited only to the state but is prevailing in all the northeast states.
A proper policy and effective management on the part of the state government is very important to prevent such problems, he said.
On the other hand, piggery is a profitable business which does not need huge capital.
There are several successful entrepreneurs among the pig farmers in the state and some of them even have doctorate degree.
Manipur is a meat consumer state and pig meat is in high demand.
There is no dearth of market in the state for pig farmers.
One can get involved in piggery either for meat or for breeding.
A fully grown female pig breeds around 8 to 13 piglets and the average survival rate of piglets is eight.
One piglet is sold at the rate of Rs 4000 to Rs 6000 and as such a farmer can easily earn around Rs 70,000 in a year from a fully grown female pig if it breeds twice in a year.
Rearing four or five female pigs can bring a handsome income to any farmer, he maintained.
For meat, a pig can grow and gain weigh up to 70 kg in eight to nine months.
Rearing around 15 pigs can bring a profit of at least Rs 1 lakh in a year.
Pig has high level of feed conversion efficiency.
It can gain one kg of weight by eating around 5 kg of feeds and most of the pigs in the state feed on leftover foods from kitchen or vegetable wastes.
They also gorge on waste materials from liquor distillation.
Since they feed on mostly waste materials, the farming cost of pig is considerably low, he said.
CAU is also rearing pig for academic purpose.
The university had already produced several piglets of Hampshire breed.
Now, research is being carried out on a new breed called Rani, which is a product of cross breeding between Hampshire and Ghungaroo breeds.
Rani has become a suitable breed for the state as it can easily thrive on the types of feed pig farmers of the state have been using.
It has high breeding capability and has good immune system.
CAU had already provided around 2000 piglets of Hampshire and Rani and those pigs much have produced several piglets by now.
He was also physically involved in organising capacity building programmes, health programmes, awareness programme and vaccination programme in different parts of the state like Andro, Khurkhul, Semkmai and Phayeng among others in the last few years, Dr Ranadhir said.
On the other hand, diseases and infections are also major issues face by pig farmers.
Swine fever, African swine fever and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) are some fatal disease found in pigs.
Complications related with PRRS are breathing difficulties, piglet mortality and high mortality among adult pigs.
The disease is new in the state and it was tagged along with pigs imported from others states without proper verification, he said and stressed the need for quarantine process for animals and cattle brought in from other states so that they could be observed of diseases before letting in the community.
(This article was published under Media Fellowship Programme in Scientific Journalism of Public Relations and Media Management Cell, CAU.
For further details in relation with the article, one may contact PRMM Cell, CAU information and publicity officer Dr Indira Thounaojam or by e-mail through [email protected]) .