The main report was delivered by Deputy Governor of the Smolensk Region Alexander Medvedev, who said that households had been inspected for the purpose of transferring pigs vulnerable to the ASF virus to a special site for extermination. People have been issued with recommendations to minimise the number of pigs in their households.
Acting Director of the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture Svetlana Dresvyannikova said that there were no African swine fever cases in the Smolensk Region in 2011-2012. As of July 22, 2013, three at risk areas were reported in the region.
What is unusual about the current situation is that the fever has hit the Central Federal District, while in the past it was mostly reported in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts, evidence that the area affected by the world’s most dangerous swine disease has increased this year.
Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said it was necessary to strengthen the biological protection of pig farms and to accelerate the transfer of private households and small family farms, which lack the necessary infrastructure and technology for protection against ASFV, to other types of stockbreeding.
The meeting participants discussed the development of flax cultivation in the region. Mr Fyodorov said the Agriculture Ministry was considering measures to encourage the cultivation of quality flax and was working together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop a concept for the Union State innovative development programme for flax farming in Russia and Belarus.
Source: Agriculture Ministry
