To establish Punjab as top pork market of the country, the State Government has set up the international level of ‘State of Art Nucleus Farm’ at Nabha for supplying parent stock for piglet production. About 4000 piglets are being supplied to the farmers for setting up their new pig units annually.Giving details here, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister Punjab Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu said that to enhance the annual income of farmers under the agricultural diversification programme, State Government has launched several initiatives to boost productivity as well as quality of pig farms. He said that we have increased the production of pork meat, from 0.96 thousand tonnes (2016-17) to 1.02 thousand tonnes in year of 2017-18.Divulging about the statics of the pig farms in the state, he said that we have around 817 organized pig farms which have 26000 pigs. He said that total population of pigs in Punjab is around 60,000 and now, department is working in the direction of scientific improvement to increase the population of pigs to meet the demand of the national as well as international market.“To enhance the productivity and quality of pigs, a Modern Seman Bank is also being established for scientific breeding at Nabha which would be proved a game changer to enhance productivity of pig farms” he added.
He categorically said that Punjab is at 7th position with the growth rate of 11.2 percent in the country to produce pork meat. He said that large white York shire and some local breeds were used in Punjab while farmers can earn good income by exporting pig products like bacon, ham, lard, pork, sausages etc. to the foreign countries. He said that our aim is to produce high quality and disease less pork for the consumers from all over world.Mr. Sidhu further said that in order to compete the pork market of country, the department has been imparted the scientific training of pig farming to 2569 farmers so far. He said that after imparting the training, the Animal Husbandry department is also being provided the technical guidance to assemble their new pig farms.He elaborated that the department would provide equal opportunities for permanent earnings to all small & landless farmers, unemployed or uneducated young people and women in the business of pig farming. He said that it is the interesting fact that a pig becomes suitable for slaughtering purpose just at the age of 7-9 months (marketable weight of 80-100 kg).