Pigs are literally hogging the limelight in what could be an economic turnaround across Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which rules the 8,970 sq. km region comprising four Bhutan-bordering districts of the State, is scheduled to ink a deal with the Danish government for setting up India’s first pig schools, preferably with a centralised academy.
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The BTC authorities have tied up with the Danish Consortium of Academic Craftmanship (DCAC) and the Odense-based Dalum Landbrugsskole, an academy of agricultural business, for setting up such schools.
“But the courses based on European expertise would be tweaked to suit local conditions and needs with the incorporation of traditional knowledge about pig-rearing,” BTC’s chief executive member, Pramod Boro told The Hindu.
Biosecurity critical
Animal husbandry and piggery experts have been trying to design shorter courses that would provide local farmers with the technical know-how and knowledge about biosecurity – a crucial component given the outbreak of African swine fever in Assam and elsewhere in the northeast over the past couple of years.
“A few months ago, we sent a team to study the Danish model. A team from the DCAC also visited BTR to study the feasibility of pig schools for training farmers and entrepreneurs,” Mr Boro said.
“We are now sending 50 farmers to Denmark to learn various aspects of piggery from rearing to making pork products,” he said, adding that work on the schools would start soon after the BTC and the Danish government signs a memorandum of understanding.
Huge market potential
The seeds of the pig schools were sown in September 2021, less than a year after Mr Boro took charge of the BTC, with the launch of the Bodoland Pig Mission. The objective was to cash in on the huge markets that the northeast, comprising eight States, as well as adjoining Bhutan offer.
Assam’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Minister, Atul Bora said the State has 15.89% – the highest – of the total population of pigs in India. “Our long-term goal is to make Bodoland the hub of piggery in the country,” he said.
Setting up the pig schools became a key component of the mission, officials said.
“The pig school will be based on the Folk School concept that Dalum Landbrugsskole and similar other institutions follow. Ours will focus on training, technology demonstration, and skilling,” Puspadhar Das, in charge of the Pig Mission said.
“We have a long way to go to meet the demand of the ₹8,000-crore market in the northeast alone. Currently, we are producing less than 1 lakh metric tonnes of pork against an annual demand of 3 lakh MT in the region,” Manoj Basumatary, the founder-president of the Northeast Progressive Pig Farmers’ Association said.
Going commercial
He is associated with the Pig Mission, which envisaged going beyond backyard pig farming by about 8-10 lakh families – mostly tribal – for scientific, commercial farming. BTC and the rest of Assam have about 6,000 commercial farmers who own 10 or more pigs.
“We launched the mission with a target of producing 1 lakh kg of meat per day. Some 5,500 farmers were identified for training in biosecurity and other aspects of piggery,” Mr Boro said.
The BTC authorities spent ₹17 crore during 2022-23 on biosecurity kits distributed to the pig farmers and on disinfectants, spray machines, and boots to more than 150 farmers in each of the four districts.
“The BTC’s flagship mission is headed in the right direction. We hope the diverse activities to be topped by the pig schools make the mission sustainable,” Mr Basumatary said.
