Manipur Progressive Piggery Farmer Association on Sunday appealed to state authorities to swiftly initiate special schemes for the piggery farmers in Manipur as the farmers had taken substantial economic hits due to the prevailing unrest and death of numerous farm pigs during the swine fever outbreak.
Speaking to the media at Manipur Press Club in Imphal, association member Ningthoujam Sanjoy stated that several sectors in Manipur had been gravely impacted by the ongoing crisis.
“The outbreak of swine fever coincided with the conflict. Numerous pigs were killed by the outbreak and the department concerned started conducting measures to contain the outbreak,” he said.
He stated that the authority kept conducting regular post mortem of the dead pigs and kept gathering other additional information.
He highlighted that the department had also slaughtered infected pigs which they found during their investigation but the compensation for the pigs had still not been disbursed.
“The action has literally driven many families down the gutter. They do not have the finances to buy and breed new pigs on top of that, those who took out loans from banks are unable to pay back their loans on time,” he said.
As such, he appealed to the state authorities to figure out a measure to clear the loans without interest and set up a quick special scheme for the pig farmers in Manipur.
