The extent and structure of pig rearing system in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati

Sidhartha S Mohakud; Razibuddin Ahmed Hazarika; Sarat Sonowal; Durlav P Bora; Archana Talukdar; Santanu Tamuly; Johanna F Lindahl

doi:10.1080/20008686.2020.1711576

The extent and structure of pig rearing system in urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati

Infect Ecol Epidemiol. 2020 Jan 8;10(1):1711576. doi: 10.1080/20008686.2020.1711576. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Sidhartha S Mohakud¹, Razibuddin Ahmed Hazarika¹, Sarat Sonowal¹, Durlav P Bora², Archana Talukdar¹, Santanu Tamuly³, Johanna F Lindahl⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Public Health, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, India.
² Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, India.
³ Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, India.
⁴ Department of Biosciences, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Livestock is common in Indian cities and contribute to food security as well as livelihoods. Urban livestock keeping has been neglected, and in India, little is known about the topic. Therefore, urban and peri-urban pig farms of Guwahati, Assam, India, were surveyed in order to understand more about the pig rearing systems and risks of diseases. A total of 34 urban and 66 peri-urbanpig farms were selected randomly. All reared cross-bred pigs. Free-range pig rearing was common in both urban (58.8%) and peri-urban (45.45%) farms. Artificial insemination was used by around half of the pig farmers. Disinfection in pig farms was practiced in 26.5% of urban and 28.8% of peri-urban farms. More urban pig farms were observed to be moderately clean in (82.4%) compared to peri-urban (69.7%). However, more urban (67.7%) than peri-urban farms (57.6%) reported ahighrodent burden. Pig sheds were mostly basic, with bricked floors in 18.2% farms in peri-urban areas, and more than 80% had corrugated iron roofing sheets. In conclusion, free-roaming pigs in both urban and peri-urban areas of Guwahati can contribute to disease transmission, and the low standard of hygiene and buildings may further increase the risk of diseases.

Keywords: Pig rearing; free-ranging livestock; pig husbandry; urban and peri-urban agriculture; urban livestock keeping.

Grants and funding

This study was part of the Metropolitan mosquito project funded by the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas, grant number 2016-00364). In addition, the project was supported by International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya through the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. The project was also supported by Department of Veterinary Public Health, AAU, Khanapara, Assam.