Pig production and management system in Aizawl District of Mizoram, India

S Rahman, S Barthakur* and G Kalita** 

Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension, College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Central Agricultural University, Selesih, Aizawl, Mizoram-796014

saidur14@rediffmail.com

*Department of Veterinary Parasitology, College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Central Agricultural University, Selesih, Aizawl, Mizoram-796014

**College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Central Agricultural University, Selesih, Aizawl, Mizoram-796014

Abstract 

Mizoram is a mountainous region and it lies within the tropics. Pig is the most important livestock in the state and plays a major role in the livelihood of the small farmers. The present study was undertaken to know the production and management system followed by the farmers in this hilly state. A total 100 farmers were selected for the study and personal interview and self observation method were employed to collect data on five different aspects namely, housing, breeding, feeding, health care and general care and management practices. 

The study revealed that the farmers reared the pigs in confinement in raised platform constructed with woods and bamboos and in most of the farms (97%) the floor space was inadequate against per adult animal. Majority (92%) of the farmers’ rear cross-bred pigs and (75%) followed artificial insemination practices. The average litter size at birth was 7 while that for weaning was 6. All the farmers followed stall feeding and supplied kitchen waste with certain weeds, after boiling, to their pigs while only half (50%) of them  offered concentrate feeds (maximum 1kg per pig). Further, majority (61%) of farmers never used any feed supplement like mineral mixture, vitamins etc. They provided feeds twice daily, morning and evening.  With regard to health care, the study revealed that majority (72 %) of the farmers used antibiotic in treating the diseased pigs where as 64 per cent of the farmers followed deworming using either traditional or allopathic medicine. However,  82 per cent of the farmers vaccinated the pigs against swine fever. Similarly, only 12 per cent of the farmers treated their piglets against piglet anaemia with iron injection and 39 per cent of them used ectoparasiticide drugs in their farms. While recording general care and management practices, it was found that farmers followed cutting of needle teeth, weaning and castration of their piglets in time. Only 36 per cent of the farmers paid special attention to the pregnant sows but 80 per cent of them took special care of sows after farrowing. Cleaning of pigsty was done once in a week by 65 percent of the farmers. Pigs were marketed at the age of 1 year or above when they attained body weight of 90 kg or more and the market price of pork was INR 120 at the time of study.

Key words: Feeding, households, housing, mountain, nutrition, poor, reproduction, rural

Introduction

Mizoram is a mountainous region with a population of about 900 000 and it lies within the tropics between latitude 21.19⁰ C to 24.35⁰ C north and longitude 92.15⁰ C to 93.29⁰ C east. An aerial survey gives an impression of shape of a bitter guard which has been cut horizontally and put in north-south direction on the ground. The whole state is broken into innumerable broken hills locally called as “Tlang” with sharp and pointed hill tops. The slopes are steep on all sides and the elevation ranges from 40 metres to 2157 metres. The average height is about 900 metres from sea level. The hills are covered with dense vegetation and bamboo forests are common. Livestock plays an important role in this hilly state as crop production is still traditional. Amongst the livestock, pig is most important and every family rears pig as backyard venture. Pig farming is one of the sources of cash income for the subsistence farmers as well as determines family’s purchasing power because of unprofitable “Jhum” cultivation practice. Pigs are still considered scavenging animals and that the underprivileged are involved in pig production. Pig keeping is important in eastern states of the country and particularly for the tribal communities (Rangnekar 2006).

The pig population of the state was 217,184   of which cross-bred pigs account for 185,246. There is a great potential for pig production but hardly any attempt has been made to record systematically and analyze the pig rearing system followed by the farmers. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to understand the prevailing production and management practices followed by the farmers in Aizawl district and reasons thereof.

Research methodology 

The study was carried out in Aizawl one of the eight districts of Mizoram, in India during March 2005 to September 2005. About 31 per cent of pig population is in Aizawl district alone and about 60 per cent of the meat consumed in the district comes from this species only (Anonymous 2002-03).  In Aizawl district, there were five blocks and from these five blocks two blocks namely Aibawk and Tlangnuam were randomly selected. From each selected block 5 villages were selected randomly i.e. a total of 10 villages were selected for the study. From each selected villages, ten pig farmers were selected randomly to make a sample size of 100 respondents. To record the findings of production and management practices followed by these 100 respondents, partly interview and self-observation methods were employed. The production and management practices were studied in respect of five aspects namely Housing, Breeding, Feeding, Health Care, and General Care and Management. Views of the farmers regarding reasons for following certain practices have also been gathered.

Results and discussion 

Salient observations of production and management practices followed by the farmers are presented in the Table-1.

Housing practices

It was observed that all the pig farmers constructed their pigsty with locally available materials like bamboo and woods, located in road side slope area with a raised platform above 2-3 feet from the ground. The floor space per adult was found to be inadequate (average 12 sq.ft) in majority (97%) of the farms. The farm equipments included mainly iron vessel (Kerahi) for boiling feeds, empty mustard oil tin (modified form) or cut piece of woods or bamboos, tyres (locally known as Thingphek) as feeding trough. Further it was recorded that supply of water mostly dependent either on rain or nearby streams. Separate water storage facility for pigs and electricity were absent in 84 per cent and 89 per cent of the farms, respectively.

All pigsties were constructed by using bamboo and wood because these are cheap and easily available as there is abundance of these materials in the jungles . Moreover, it was easy to shift the bamboo or wood housing from one place to another place. The reason for raising the floor above ground level was to prevent entering of reptiles, rats and other small wild predators which are abundant in the nearby jungle. Besides these, almost all farmers said that raising the floor above ground level made cleaning more easy and prevented dampening of floor due to rain.

Breeding practices

Breeding is one of the most important aspects for better productivity of the animals. Eight distinct breeding practices followed by the farmers were studied. The majority (92%) farmers were rearing cross-bred pigs in the farms and they (55%) gave first service to the female pigs at the age of 10-12 months. Majority (75%) of the farmers followed artificial insemination practices for breeding and practiced two services to the sow at 12 hrs interval during the second day of heat. A great majority (74%) of the respondents followed the practice of twice farrowing of sow in a year. Only 16 per cent of them in the study area were rearing breeding boars. The average litter size at birth was 7 while that for weaning was 6.  Kumar et al (2002) reported that the average litter size at birth was 6-8 and farmers follow the practice of sow farrowing twice in year.

The farmers preferred to rear cross-bred on their farms since in their opinion crossbred pigs have better growth performance, healthier than indigenous one, large litter size, low mortality rate and high back fat thickness. The advantages of adopting artificial insemination were that it is cheap and easily available, they get improved progeny and they save on cost of rearing breeding boars. The farmers preferred Hamshire and Saddle Back breed for crossing.  Liquid semen is used for artificial insemination and farmers pay INR 100 per insemination whereas they have to pay INR 500 per insemination by breeding bull at the time of the study.

Feeding practices

It is one of the most important aspects of pig farming. The performance of the pigs mostly depends on how the farmers are managing the feeding in the farm. Stall feeding was followed by   almost all of the farmers and this is unlike the scavenging system commonly seen in other parts of the country. Half (50%) of the farmers  feed kitchen waste to the pigs with  small quantity of concentrates  (maximum one kg) in view of high cost of feeds. Kitchen waste is mixed with locally available weeds e.g. Japan-hlo (Mikania micrantha), Mau tak

(Melocanna baccifera), Vaivakawn par (Tithonia diversifolia), Anhling (Solanum nigrum) etc and boiled before providing to the pigs. Farmers mentioned that they boiled the feeds before giving to pigs to kill harm full insects or parasites. Pandey (2000) reported that use of hotel waste in peri-urban region of Hayana is useful practice. Kumar et al (2002) mentioned that farmers of Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland boiled the feeds before giving to pigs. This is also reported by Varma et al (1982).

Feed supplement like mineral mixture, vitamins etc were not added to  the feeds by 61 per cent of the farmers. Feeds are offered twice daily, in morning and evening, by majority (95%) of the farmers.

Health care practices

It was observed in the study area that all the pig farmers gave due attention to health of their pigs and took care of it. Majority (72%) of the farmers approached local veterinarian or Para veterinarian for consultation on treating ailing animals and preferred to give antibiotics. Vaccination and deworming was followed by 82 per cent and 64 per cent of the farmers respectively. Only 12  per cent of the respondents were giving iron injection to the piglets to prevent piglet anaemia whereas only 39 per cent of the farmers used drugs for skin diseases and ectoparasite control.

General care and management practices

The general care and management practices studied include cutting of needle teeth, weaning of piglets, castration, care to pregnant sow, care after farrowing, treatment of non-conceived sows, cleaning of pigsty, marketing etc.

The study revealed that cutting of needle teeth of the piglets to prevent the teat injury to the mother was practiced by almost all (98%) the farmers. Castration and weaning was to be practiced by all the farmers. The reason behind castration might be that the farmers kept the pigs for meat purpose only and sale of meat of non-castrated pigs was not allowed.  Farmers perceived that growth of the castrated pigs were more than non-castrated ones. Though it was found that 64 per cent of the respondents never paid proper attention to their pregnant sows but 80 per cent of them took special care of their sows after farrowing. Majority of the farmers (85%) never treated the non-conceiving/repeat breeding sows and preferred to slaughter them. The reason cited by the farmers was that the treatment was costly and too long. Nearly two-third (65%) of the farmers cleaned their pigsty once in a week and 90 per cent of the farmers used pig waste as manure for cultivation. Farmers used pig waste directly in agricultural field and they found it very useful. Kumar et al (2002) found that the practice of castration was very common in Mizoram.

It was seen that almost all the villages, there was small market at least for pork (locally known as Vawksa) marketing. Majority of the farmers (87%) market their pigs at the age of 1 year or above when they reached the body weight of 90 kg or above. At this age back fat content is generally high and consumers preferred pork with high back fat thickness. The pricing system is based on measurement of girth, body length and general appearance of the pig. There is preference for black coloured pigs in the market.

Conclusions

The study revealed  certain  interesting production and management practices followed by the farmers of Aizawl district and are distinctly different from those commonly seen in most other parts of the country. Salient aspects are presented below:

• Pigs were reared in stalls with raised floor (Platform) constructed with bamboo and wood. Raised floors were practiced to protect against rainwater and  reptiles. The space provided to the adult pigs was inadequate. 

  
  

• The farmers preferred to rear cross-bred animals  for better growth performance and  bigger litter size and have adopted  artificial insemination as cost involved was less and results are good in terms of improved progeny.

  
  

•  Kitchen waste with small quantity of concentrate mixture (maximum 1 kg) and locally available weeds were used to feed the pigs the practice reduces cost of feeding. Feed supplement like mineral mixture, vitamins were not used due to high cost.

  
  

• Vaccination and deworming were followed to protect the pigs from swine fever and internal parasite, respectively. Iron injection and ectoparasiticides were not used by the farmers and might be the probable causes of diseases like skin diseases and piglet anaemia.

  
  

• Cutting of needle teeth, castration and weaning were the most common practices followed by the farmers. Cleaning was not done regularly by the farmers leading to various diseases like diarrhoea, skin diseases etc. Special care was not taken for the pregnant sows whereas sow after farrowing received special attention.

  
  

• Pigs were marketed at the age of 1 year or more when they reached body weight of 90 kg or more due to consumers’ preference to the pork with high back fat thickness.

  
  

•  The study reveals that there is good scope for improving pig production since farmers are aware of the benefits from pig production and management and breeding practices already adopted provide good base for improvement.

References 

Anonymous 2002-03 Annual Report of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Directorate of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Government of Mizoram, Pp 8

Kumar R, Pal P P, Prasad K and Prakash N 2002 Modernizing Tribal Piggery A Delineated Approach. Division of Agricultural Extension, ICAR Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Umium, Meghalaya, India. Research Bulletin No. 47: 22,24, 29.

Pandey U K 2000 Livestock in the household economy. Proceedings of viiith Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economic Association on Livestock in Different Farming Systems held at Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, India, November 2000. Pp. 1–13.

Rangnekar D V 2006 Livestock in the livelihoods of the underprivileged communities in India: A Review. International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. Pp32, 45 http://www.ilri.org/Infoserv/webpub/fulldocs/LivestockInTheLivelihoods/LivestockUP_India_Final.pdf

Varma A, Yadav B P S, Sampath K T and Roy D J 1982 Livestock feeds feeding habits in north eastern hill of India. Division of Animal Nutrition, ICAR Research Complex for North-Eastern Hill Region, Umium, Meghalaya, India. Research Bulletin No. 17: 22, 24, 29.

Received 15 December 2007; Accepted 7 June 2008; Published 4 September 2008

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