852 herds of cattle have been slaughtered in Central Province in the quest to stop the spread of the Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) disease.
Provincial Permanent Secretary Milner Mwanakampwe revealed that the said herds of cattle were slaughtered at a named farm to contain the disease from spreading to other farms.
ZANIS reports that Mr Mwanakampwe was speaking when he officially opened the 2024 Provincial Agriculture and Commercial Show held under the theme, “Creating a Competitive Future”, at the Godfrey ‘Ucar’ Chitalu Stadium in Kabwe.
He observed that livestock diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and CBPP have continued to ravage livestock in the province depriving the farmers of the much-needed draft power, manure, nutrition and income.
He said the department of veterinary services is targeting to vaccinate 590,000 cattle against FMD in the ten districts of the province while 47,551 have already been vaccinated in Mkushi District.
He added that the department is also conducting test and slaughter activity for CBPP disease positive animals where the disease was detected where 852 cattle have been destroyed.
And Mr Mwanakampwe acknowledged that compared to the 2022/2023 season, the expected production of the rain-fed crops for the 2023/2024 season is generally poor.
“All the crops captured have recorded a decrease of the expected production apart from millet, sorghum and burley tobacco which have recorded increases in expected production when compared to last season,” he said.
However, he expressed delight that the province, despite experiencing drought that has adversely affected production, has ranked number one in nine crops among them maize for seed, barley, Irish potatoes, wheat and soya beans.
Source: LUsakatimes
