Punjab-Haryana to supply pigs in Northeast, citizens claim 'Delhi lobby's victory' over local farmers

The decision by the Centra govt to allow the export of pigs from Punjab and Haryana has faced opposition in Assam. Some have even gone on to allege that the African Swine was a conspiracy to facilitate the import. Others have called it a nail in the coffin against the local farmer's employment. On a Facebook post, one Pranab Milan Gogoi posted: "So finally the Delhi Pig Lobby wins! Betraying the local pig farmers of the Northeastern region, the pork meat from Delhi is allowed to make its way to North East amidst the COVID-19 pandemic n African swine fever.

Based on a Govt Notification by Ministries of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry states that "the movement of pigs from the state of Haryana and Punjab to Northeast has been allowed subject under strict compliance".

This notification comes amid the outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) among the pigs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh especially. As such, the govt has devised the export of pigs from Haryana and Punjab to the Northeast.

State Agriculture Minister, Atul Bora too posted regarding the matter.

Beyong the issue

To speak more on this issue, Inside Northeast spoke to professor Professor Kushan Sarma of Veterinary College who gave a nuanced view of the situation. "The local production has not been fulfilled and that's why pigs have been initiated to bring in. The consumption of pork is highest in the Northeast and as such, the lack of local production facilitated by the African Swine Fever is making way to this move. Even before this, pigs from UP and Bihar which are of the scavenging variety used to be imported. Now, the shortage has only increased with the ASF but this is definitely not a new thing".

The pig production in the state has been dependant on other states and the issue has only gone from bad to worse. Does it expose Assam's lack of self-sufficiency in meeting its own consumption need? Professor Sarma sums up by saying, "new progressive farmers have arrived in the scene, although the pig production is done by the masses, we lack mass production. Instead of just blaming the government, we should focus more on increasing productivity and management".

Also read: Assam: 92% of Kaziranga submerged under floods, 123 animals dead

The macro aspect of pigs production

Extending the lack of self-sufficiency in domestic production, Inside Northeast spoke to Manoram Gogoi, who has been involved in the sector. He finds it the responsibility of the government to protect the sector to which the state government has failed. "At a time when we are speaking of Atmanirbhar Bharat, govt has decided to bring in pigs supply from other states? Instead of rectifying the market already damaged by floods and ASF, it has used this tactic to meet the supply-demand". On the issue of swine fever and the market disruption, he said, "Assam earlier had classical swine fever and now it has ASF, govt should have tackled this and provided better farming facilities to the youth. The last months, pig farmers have been badly affected and they have been provided with no compensation. Now, they are trying to bring outside players to disrupt the indigenous business.".

Gogoi too acknowledges that the lack of production has only been revealed by this decision and there has been overall policy bottleneck in the livestock sector. "The issue if self-sufficiency, we consume so high and now it is the responsibility of the govt to provide the supply to that demand. The youths are returning back to the state amid the corona crisis and the government should have taken them and absorbed them in the system. I think there's a bigger issue, due to the lockdown, Haryana and Punjab producers have not been able to sell their products and now the government just wants to buy it instead of them getting wasted. They are only concerned about their commission".

Going forward: Pig production

The issue is not limited to allowances of import from Punjab and Haryana. It's about the vulnerability of the indigenous farmers who have not been supplied enough know-hows and tools to faciliate better production to cope up with the demands. The other concern is with bigger players supplying now, will the local farmers who rely their means on income on such Agri-allied activities stand to lose their monetary source?

Readers like you make Inside Northeast’s work possible.

To support our brand of fearless and investigative journalism, support us HERE.

Download:

The Inside Northeast app HERE for News, Views, and Reviews from Northeast India.

Do keep following us for news on-the-go. We deliver the Northeast.