Nghe An: Some localities are slow to pay support for destroying pigs infected with African swine fever.

Secret source of investment in livestock farming

As of June 27, 1,528 households in Nghe An had to destroy pigs due to African swine fever. There are young couples who boldly invested in barns, raising sows and pigs on a large scale, but the epidemic has pushed them into debt with partners supplying breeds and animal feed...
Mr. Hoang Van Lan's family in Hamlet 7, Quynh My Commune (Quynh Luu) was the household with the first outbreak of African swine fever in Nghe An on March 13, 2019.

Quynh Luu district destroys pigs with epidemic disease. Photo: Document

Mr. Lan said: Pig farming is a sideline but the main source of income for the family in many years ago. The family always raises 2 sows, each year they produce 2 litters of piglets, earning about 30 million VND. Thanks to the income from selling breeding pigs, the family's life is not yet rich, but stable, with conditions to raise children and send them to school.

Suddenly, on March 13, the family's pigs were reported by the veterinary agency to be infected with African swine fever, and immediately after that, the local authorities destroyed the entire herd of pigs according to state regulations. Since then, the family's barn has been empty, and the couple has had no job to earn money.

Graphics: Lam Tung

On April 24, the commune submitted a request for final settlement of funds to implement support payments to restore production after the African swine fever epidemic in 2019. The commune sent it to the District People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the District Finance Department. However, as of June 27, households have not yet received support money from the State.

Mr. Le Xuan Thanh - Chairman of People's Committee of Quynh My Commune (Quynh Luu)

Through discussion, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Quyen - Chairman of the People's Committee of Minh Son Commune (Do Luong) said: After the district announced the end of the epidemic in the locality, the commune government drafted a document to the District People's Committee requesting financial support according to the State's mechanism and policies for livestock farming households. However, the government and people have not received any information about the State's financial support for families whose pigs were destroyed.

Why the delay?

Mr. Ho Anh Thang - Head of the Finance Department of Quynh Luu district said that the department has received more than 37,800,000 VND from the Department of Finance to support households whose pigs were destroyed due to African swine fever since June 14. However, Mr. Thang said that because the department is "busy" with many things, it has not been able to carry out the payment procedures for the households.

Do Luong district destroyed the infected sows of Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa's family in Long Minh hamlet, Minh Son commune (Do Luong). Photo: Xuan Hoang

In Do Luong district, when asked about the transfer of support money from the province to households whose pigs were destroyed due to the recent African swine fever, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Head of the district's Finance Department did not know this information. When we asked the Finance Department to check, Mr. Binh later learned that the amount of more than 72 million VND had been transferred by the Department of Finance to Do Luong district since June 17. Thus, is it possible that the lack of attention from the Do Luong district's Finance Department has unintentionally pushed farmers into a more difficult situation?

In reality, after the pigs are destroyed, farmers lose their source of income and have difficulty finding capital to invest in raising pigs. Another consequence is that after a long time without being able to re-raise pigs, households are worried and do not know what is suitable to raise...