Set up lab to test for ASF : MPPFA
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 02 2023:
The Manipur Progressive Pig Farmers' Association (MPPFA) has urged the Government to set up a laboratory to test African Swine Fever in Manipur as soon as possible.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club today, MPPFA secretary Laisangbam Bidyasagar said that the absence of testing facility for swine diseases in Manipur is a major setback to the people in pig rearing business as they have to wait for a long time to get the test result whenever there is outbreak and the same increases the chance of them not getting any compensation.
Manipur needs to have a testing facility for swine diseases as pig rearing has become a full time profession for many farmers in Manipur due to high consumption rate of pork, he said and urged the Government to do the needful at the earliest.
Saying that scores of pigs have either been culled or died in five districts-Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Kakching and Thoubal due to ASF outbreak, he said that most of the farmers reared the pigs by taking loans from banks.
The Veterinary Department issues orders occasionally to inform them if poultry or other livestock died mysteriously in farms but many farmers don't get much benefit from the Government even after informing them about the development, he charged.
Pork is a popular meat in Manipur but there is a gap in the demand-supply chain, Bidyasagar said and continued that the State has been importing pigs from outside Manipur to meet the demand of pork.
Altogether 180 pigs reared together by Robert Abujam, Ningombam Samson and Rohit Salam at Khonghampat in Imphal East died recently and the samples of the dead pigs were collected by the Veterinary Department on October 20 but the test result is still awaited, he said and added that many pigs have also died while waiting for the result.
Only 37 pigs are alive at the farm now but the owners still don't know whether the pigs died of ASF or other complications and whether they will be provided compensation or not, Bidyasagar continued.
The Veterinary Department has been carrying out exercises to contain the outbreak of ASF but no culling was done at the major pig farm at Khonghampat, he claimed and said that the three pig farmers may not get any compensation from the Government for their loss.
He also claimed that the Government didn't carry out the culling exercise properly other than declaring certain areas as epicentre, infected zone and so on of ASF.
The Government is likely to provide compensation only for the pigs which have an official record of ASF infections, he said and requested the relevant authorities to compensate for all the pigs which died of ASF even if it is little to encourage the farmers.
The State will invest a large chunk of money in importing pigs if most of the pig rearers walk away from the profession and it would have a serious effect on the State's economy, Bidysagar reasoned.
The ASF outbreak could have been prevented had the Veterinary Department intervened when some cases with the symptoms of the swine disease were detected in Ukhrul on June 2, he added.