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BALANGA City, Bataan: The provincial veterinarian and
the agriculturist announced Monday that in Bataan the swine industry
is not affected by hog cholera and no portion of its ricelands were
affected by the lack of rain.
Dr. Alberto Venturina, provincial
veterinarian, said that meat eaters have nothing to worry. “Pigs
raised in backyards and from commercial growers are free from hog
cholera and other animal diseases that had hit our neighboring
provinces,” he said.
Reports showed that pigs from the
provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga were affected, although already
contained, by the virus affecting swine.
Venturina said that per their
latest monitoring, there was no reported case of the viral disease
from both commercial and backyard raisers. There are more than
106,000 pigs taken cared of by commercial growers and more than
8,000 by backyard raisers.
He said that hog cholera is a
common disease of swine and can be controlled by disinfections and
vaccination.
Provincial agriculturist Imelda
Inieto, on the other hand, said that municipal agriculturists in 11
towns and one city have not reported of any effect on rice
production due to climate change and less rainfall.
Farmers, however, complained that
with few rains, they have to often use their diesel-fed water pumps
to irrigate their ricefields. “During this time, we should have
depended on the rains but with what is happening, it is like the
summer season that we have to frequently water our newly
transplanted palay with our own expensive pumps,” they said.
--Ernie B. Esconde
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