SHILLONG, MAY 15: Flagging what it called a “crisis” in the livestock sector, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) has written to Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Minister Sanbor Shullai seeking immediate intervention to protect pig and poultry farmers in Meghalaya from market losses, disease outbreaks, and policy gaps.

In a memorandum submitted under its Socio-Economics Reform Movement, FKJGP President Dundee Cliff Khongsit said field interactions revealed widespread distress among farmers.

“We have frequently observed that farmers are facing numerous challenges in their professions,” he wrote. The group’s primary demand is curbs on the “free entry” of livestock from outside the state, which it says has undercut local producers.

“Pigs and poultry produced from our state cannot be sold at a profitable price, because of the easy access of pigs from the outside of the state at a lower rate in comparison to the pigs produced from the state,” the letter stated.

It warned that without a policy to “cross check” such imports, “the local farmers will suffer more and more and may not progress in their activities.”

FKJGP attributed the recent spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) and mass poultry deaths to animals brought from the “plain belts” of the country.

“Presently there is no quarantine and isolation centres to cross check these animals which come into our state. Because of this very reason, there is a widespread of ASF and other diseases for the poultry sector in certain parts of our state,” Khongsit said.

He added that the impact had left many farmers “demotivated and become bankrupt and cannot pay his loan.” The memorandum also faulted the department for failing to monitor outcomes after training programmes.

“The department does not follow up the progress of the farmers and thus the end result is almost a waste of effort both for the government and for the farmers who participated the training,” it said, noting that “in the time of medical needs, the farmers receive almost no help from the department like medicines.”

Highlighting market infrastructure gaps, FKJGP said the state lacks a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) and organised meat markets.

“There is no organized market for the sale of the meat produced. At present there is only one active place as a modernized pig slaughter centre which is the Modern Multi-Species Abattoir in Mawlai Mawiong,” the letter pointed out.
Calling for urgent action, Khongsit said, “We hope and strongly believed that the government especially your ministry through you sir, as the Minister In charge of the Veterinary Department, shall take these issues as a serious matter and may be a blessing for the local farmers working hard across the length and breadth of the state.”

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