Minalin— Some 45 hog raisers here received "sentinel pigs" from the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Friday, July 19.
The agency implemented the program to strengthen the local swine industry, which was affected by the African Swine Fever (ASF.
The DA said it distributed 135 "sentinel" piglets during the event.
Governor Dennis "Delta" Pineda and other provincial officials attended the event at the covered court of Barangay Bulac in this town.
"Nung atatandanan yu pu dati anyang atin tamu pang ASF, pekamarakal la pu reng babi a kinate tamu keng balen Minalin. So, anyang mengutang la pu nanu ing mumunang makatanggap babi, sabi ku, balen Minalin pamu pu dapat," the governor said.
The program was made possible through the DA's Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery Expansion (INSPIRE) Program.
Each hog raiser received three piglets and six bags of feeds.
The DA implemented the project under its sentinelling protocol, where the piglets are grown for 40 days. The agency will conduct at least two PCR tests on each farm.
"Kanina, katabi ko ang municipal veterinarian, napag-alaman ko na nasa pink zone na ang Minalin. After ng pink, pwede na sila mag-yellow if negative pa rin sa ASF," Bjorn Quiambao, Regional Livestock Program Alternate Focal Person, said.
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Reynaldo Gutierrez Navales
Dagdag me keng story hog raisers story ng Ian
DA distributes "sentinel" piglets in areas where there are no reported cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) for at least 90 days, initially in eight regions, benefiting 8,000 smallholder farmers.