Nagaland bans import of pigs as mortality rate increases in region

Kohima: Nagaland government on Wednesday banned the import of pigs from outside the state following the ‘high mortality’ of pigs in the neighbouring states. Amid the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic, parts of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have reported unusual deaths of pigs recently.

Following the directive of the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry & dairying, a notification was issued by chief secretary Temjen Toy on Wednesday imposing ban on import of pigs from outside the state with immediate effect. It informed that the ban was imposed following reports of the outbreak of ‘African swine fever’ and high mortality of pigs in the neighbouring states.

Ahead of this notification, the Bhandari sub-division ordered indefinite ban on import of pigs from outside the region and that any person who intends to slaughter locally reared pigs should obtain clearance from the administration. While Zunheboto administration totally banned the transportation of pigs from Assam or other districts, the Mokokchung administration had also notified that no pigs should be allowed to enter Mokokchung district from Assam till further notice.

Earlier, during the fifth session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) on February 15 this year, it was informed that there are 10 government established pig farms in the state. In regard to the volume of pork meat (in kilograms) produced locally by the Nagas, the state government claimed that during 2019-20, the internal domestic meat production was 32.03 tonnes (000 tones), out of which approximately 1,92,20,20 kg of pork were produced locally by the Nagas. Reportedly, 4.36 tonnes of pork were imported into the state.

It estimated that on an average, the pork consumption in the state is approximately 64,624 kg per day. With approximately 13,448 kg per day, Dimapur district topped the chart of pork consumption per day followed by Kohima at 9,500 kg (approx) per day.

The approximate consumption of pork in the other districts per day are: Mokokchung: 7,852 kg; Zunheboto: 7,011 kg; Wokha: 6,230 kg; Phek: 5,810 kg; Tuensang: 5,441 kg; Mon: 4,110 kg; Kiphire: 1,745 kg; Longleng: 1,396 kg; and Peren: 2,081 kg.