Guwahati, April 24 (MExN): The North East Progressive Pig Farmers’ Association (NEPPFA) in a press meet organised at the ALPCO campus in Guwahati addressed issues related to the piggery sector hit hard due to the lockdown.
The press was addressed by the President of NEPPFA, Manoj Kumar Basumatary, and Dr Dhireshwar Kalita, Principal Scientist, AAU and present were Runa Rafique, Vice Presidents, Tanmoy Nath, Treasurer and Manas Kalita, Secretary, Farmers Welfare.
Addressing on the deaths of a large numbers of pigs in some districts like Sibsagar, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Nagaon, NEPPFA said that the Classical Swine Fever is a viral disease which attacks pigs during this period every year. “Classical Swine Fevers only attacks pigs and it causes no harm to human beings,” it clarified.
The association clarified that World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the H1N1 influenza event to have moved to a post pandemic period.
Assam has the largest pigs population in the country according to the 20th livestock census from 2012-2019. Data show that the eight north-eastern States with Assam at its core consume more than 65% of the 4.26 lakh metric tonnes of pork produced in the country.
NEPPFA said pork was being sold at government-approved counters for bailing the pig farmers out of a financial crisis due to the lockdown. NEPPFA also asked the state government to address crucial issues like animal life insurance, feeds stock availability through public distribution system and a database of all the pig farmers in the state.
