The ministry urged farmers to immediately strengthen farm biosecurity by restricting visitors, preventing contact between domestic and wild pigs, and ensuring that any kitchen waste fed to pigs is boiled and cooked for at least 30 minutes.
The confirmation of an African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak in Pekarzhing village under Phuentsholing thromde on May 11 has intensified concerns over the growing crisis facing Bhutan’s piggery sector, with farmers already struggling due to falling pork prices, rising feed costs and recurring disease outbreaks.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) confirmed the outbreak through RT-PCR testing.
In a public notification issued today, the ministry warned that recurrent ASF outbreaks in the country were often linked to poor on-farm biosecurity, inadequate husbandry practices and unsafe feeding methods, particularly the feeding of uncooked kitchen waste and food scraps sourced from hotels and restaurants to pigs.
The ministry urged farmers to immediately strengthen farm biosecurity by restricting visitors, preventing contact between domestic and wild pigs, and ensuring that any kitchen waste fed to pigs is boiled and cooked for at least 30 minutes.
The latest outbreak follows recent ASF cases in Samtse and Samdrupjongkhar, further worsening the difficulties faced by pig farmers across the country.
Over the past few months, pork prices have fallen sharply, leaving many farmers unable to recover even the cost of feed from pig sales. Farmers say the situation worsened after feed prices increased following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) earlier this year.
Speaking during the Meet-the-Press session on May 8, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Younten Phuntsho acknowledged the severity of the challenges confronting pig farmers.
“The ministry fully understands the distress our piggery farmers are facing,” Lyonpo said. “The recent drop in pork prices, combined with the ASF outbreaks, has created a very challenging situation on the ground, and this is something the ministry and the government are taking very seriously.”
ASF is a highly lethal viral disease affecting pigs and wild boars. Although the disease does not affect humans, it causes extremely high mortality in pigs, and there is currently no effective vaccine or specific treatment available.
“In the absence of effective vaccines and specific treatment for ASF, the principal strategy for disease control and elimination remains the rapid implementation of a stamping-out policy, including the humane culling and safe disposal of infected and suspected pigs, as well as contaminated materials,” Lyonpo said.
According to the minister, the National African Swine Fever Prevention and Control Plan (NASFPCP) 2021 serves as the country’s national framework for preventing the incursion of the ASF virus and ensuring rapid mobilisation of resources during outbreaks.
During outbreaks, the Incident Operation Centre coordinates field-level response operations, while Rapid Response Teams carry out containment activities on the ground.
The minister said outbreak response measures include zoning infected areas into infected, surveillance and disease-free zones; imposing strict quarantine and movement restrictions; enhancing surveillance and epidemiological investigations; culling infected and in-contact pigs; and conducting cleaning and disinfection of infected premises and contaminated facilities.
“Additionally, as the illegal import of pork and pork products continues to pose risks, efforts are being made to curb such imports through cross-sectoral collaboration, including with the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority,” Lyonpo said.
Beyond disease outbreaks, the sector is also facing deeper market challenges.
Many farmers are reportedly being forced to keep market-ready pigs for longer periods due to weak market demand and low prices, increasing feed expenses and financial losses.
To address the immediate crisis, the MoAL has formed a Technical Working Team comprising officials from the MoAL, Ministry of Finance, Bhutan Livestock Development Corporation Limited (BLDCL) and Bhutan Development Bank Limited (BDBL).
One of the key proposals under consideration is the revision of the existing Price Guarantee Scheme (PGS).
“The current pork market situation indicates significant distortions in pricing mechanisms across different stages of the value chain, resulting in unsustainable price disparities among farmers, aggregators, wholesalers, vendors and final consumers,” Lyonpo said.
The ministry is also proposing phased harvesting and coordinated marketing interventions to address the growing accumulation of stranded market-ready pig fatteners across the country.
“A systematic phased harvesting and coordinated marketing intervention” is being planned “to immediately stabilise the production cycle, reduce biological overrun, minimise financial stress on farmers and restore confidence in the pig value chain,” the minister said.
To strengthen organised marketing systems, the ministry is formalising livestock aggregators in key production areas such as Dagana and Tsirang. Dedicated shop stalls have also been established at Kaja throm to sell pork and related products at affordable prices.
The ministry is additionally working towards better utilisation of cold storage facilities to allow staggered storage and distribution of pork to help maintain price stability.
As a long-term measure, the ministry said it is intensifying awareness and sensitisation efforts on strengthening farm-level biosecurity, as transboundary animal diseases increasingly threaten the livestock sector.
To help protect farmers against outbreak-related losses, the ministry is also encouraging enrolment in the National Crop and Livestock Insurance Scheme, which includes compensation coverage for livestock deaths caused by diseases such as ASF.
The ministry also warned the public and hotel operators against illegally importing pork and pork products and urged them to report suspected illegal imports through the BFDA’s toll-free number, 1555.
Source - https://asianews.network
