…zoning system being considered for better poultry management
To alleviate the financial responsibilities associated with managing livestock, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Friday announced that the Government will be aiding poultry farmers by covering the costs of required vaccines.
The President made this disclosure during a poultry symposium hosted by the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (AACC).
“We’ve committed to pay for the vaccines that are needed…[about] $29 million,” Ali said. “That investment by the Government will avoid the $6 increase per chick to be passed onto the farmers.”
While the President did not specify which vaccines are being purchased, GLDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Dwight Waldron had noted that contamination and disease outbreak is a rising concern across the markets.
“Bird Flu caused a significant economic and social impact in Europe and the United States (US). In Europe only, they lost in excess of 50 million birds. In the United States, [they lost] in excess of 40 million birds,” Waldron said.
Bird flu is a disease that can spread across entire flocks of domestic birds within days, through birds’ droppings and saliva, or through contaminated feed and water.
“For us here in the tropics, so far, we have been spared of this particular disease but it is what we’re doing as a Ministry to ensure that we have systems in place to confront these diseases,” Waldron said.
As a preventative step to counter the potential effects of Bird Flu, the GLDA in May had declared that it was no longer allowing the importation of poultry or poultry products due to “sanitary conditions.”
Meanwhile, Dr Waldron added that Guyana is currently confronted by a situation of Inclusion Body Hepatitis, a disease of young broilers caused by fowl adenoviruses.
“It is something that we’re continuing to work on. At our laboratory level, we have an open budget…to ensure that we do all in our powers to stay on top of this disease and I’m happy to report that we’re now moving into typing viruses locally,” Waldron said.
Viral typing is a way of identifying specific strains of microorganisms, such as viruses, by looking at their genetic material in order to determine the source of foodborne outbreaks.
Zoning
The poultry symposium on Friday was an opportunity for poultry farmers across the country to learn about the current state of their industry and Government initiatives to advance it, as well as voice their concerns.
In addition to the procurement of vaccines, President Ali had also noted that the Government was also looking to establish a Project Implementation Unit (PUI) that will, among other tasks, seek to develop a zoning system to allow poultry farmers to work collectively and better manage their livestock.
“We have to see in every region, a zone where we can establish the infrastructure for these small farmers. You’ll have to share resources. You’ll have to learn how to work together,” Ali said.
“For example, if every farmer had problems with losing chickens and we have a zone, very easily you can come together. So, if you have 100 small farmers in Region Three doing 1000 chickens all over, just imagine if we have a zone with 100,000 chickens. It’s easier for vaccination, monitoring, infrastructure, security, marketing, transport and logistics,” Ali said.
He added that this, however, would require the 100 farmers to form themselves into a group and work together as the success of one would be dependent on the other.
