Belarus aims to restore pig population by Q1 2015
Belarus will restore the country’s pig population to 3.3 million heads by the end of the first quarter of 2015, according to the representatives of the country’s Agricultural Ministry.
The number of pigs in the country dropped in 2014 due to the fight with African swine fever (ASF).
Official statistics indicated that to prevent the outbreaks the country’s veterinary services had to cut the number of pigs by nearly 0.5 million heads. As a result, the total pig population as of the beginning of 2015 was cut by 19% year-on-year.
At the same time, the representatives of the country’s Agricultural Ministry say that according to the results of investigations the ASF virus has been imported in to the country with infected feed from Russia, which lead to the several outbreaks of the disease in 2013 and 2014.
At the same time, in the opinion of the country’s experts the measures taken to prevent the spread of ASF are sufficient and the possibility of the occurrence of new outbreaks is low. The country implemented unprecedented measures to fight with ASF – in particular it introduced the criminal responsibility for workers on pig farms for any actions that may lead to the outbreak of ASF.
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