The Negros Occidental Provincial Veterinary Office is eyeing a swine raisers identification system to strengthen its measures against the dreaded African swine fever.
Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena led this year’s first Livestock Consultative Conference on Wednesday, January 27, for sustainable partnership among its partners and stakeholders on different platform developments and systematic monitoring.
During the conference, the adoption of the swine raisers ID system was tackled, stressing that this is one of the priorities being implemented by the PVO for mapping of all the hog raisers in the province, he said.
This means that the Alliance of Hog Raisers Association of Negros Occidental (AHRANO) members and backyard raisers will comply with this requirement to facilitate marketing efficiency monitoring and effective tracking of sources in cases of hog disease outbreak such as ASF, he said.
Decena said that there had been strict regulation against shipment from Luzon, Mindanao, and now Eastern Visayas to maintain the ASF-free status of Negros Occidental.
Also tackled during the meeting were the priority projects of the PVO such as the Abanse Negrense District Animal Health Center (ANDAHC) that will serve as an animal wellness center in every district for effective delivery of animal health services, Decena said.
Under the project, the province will provide funding for the construction of the facility, while the counterpart of the recipient local government unit will be the land and operation of the project.
Decena urged everyone to work together to ensure food security and livelihood.*