Rinderpest brought under control in Turkey
FAO small-scale modular slaughterhouse
Pig raising with sugar-cane juice
Animal Production and Health Division - Division de la production et de la santé animales - Dirección de Producción y Sanidad Animal
Outbreaks of rinderpest, a highly contagious and usually fatal cattle disease, have been brought under control in southeastern Turkey, thereby easing the immediate threat to tens of millions of cattle and consumers in this country and in some neighbouring countries.
The first outbreak for over two decades in Turkey occurred in October 1991. Assumed to have originated from illegally imported animals, the epidemic has since caused the death or slaughter of some 6 000 cattle and involved the vaccination of almost all the 12 million cattle and buffaloes in the country. However, with no further cases of rinderpest reported since late November 1991, following a US$30-million vaccination and containment campaign carried out by the Turkish Government, the crisis can be considered over.
With outbreaks close to Turkey's eastern border, this recent epidemic can be attributed to the disruption of animal health controls resulting from the war in the Persian Gulf. After the first reported cases, the Turkish Government requested urgent support from FAO, which then mobilized rapid assistance in the form of experts and equipment. An emergency meeting of the chief veterinary officers of Turkey and nearby countries was convened by FAO to draw up a regional containment plan.
The fight against the latest rinderpest outbreak was assisted through two FAO Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) projects, with experts and equipment sent for vaccine production and distribution in Turkey. Two other TCP projects, one for Bulgaria and the other for Iraq, have been designed to supply expertise, vaccines and equipment to prevent outbreaks in neighbouring countries. FAO has also prepared an agreement under which Turkey, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic will strengthen and coordinate activities to control and eradicate rinderpest.
This acute and highly contagious livestock disease, which has a high mortality rate, has been a devastating scourge in Europe, Asia and Africa and is still present in parts of Asia, Africa and the Near East. FAO's Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP) consists of campaigns in the latter regions and aims eventually at global eradication of the disease.
Rural slaughtering, in many developing countries, often does little to reduce the risk of meat contamination. Lack of appropriate slaughtering facilities and inadequate provision for meat inspection inevitably lead to poor hygienic conditions and insanitary meat handling which, in turn, can create serious health hazards. In addition, unsatisfactory slaughtering techniques can cause unnecessary losses of meat and valuable by-products, constituting major constraints to increasing animal production. In view of this, the establishment of simple and efficient slaughtering facilities of an adequately high standard increases the availability and quality of meat and thereby promotes public health and nutrition. It was for this purpose that the FAO Animal Production and Health Division prepared a project containing technical drawings and specifications for the construction of small-scale modular slaughterhouses.
In designing these slaughterhouses, every attempt has been made to use locally available construction materials as well as unsophisticated equipment. One such slaughterhouse, financed by the Corporación del Tolima through the TCP project COL/0051, has recently been completed on the campus farm of the University of Tolima, Colombia.
FAO funds provided the necessary equipment, technical support and the services of a visiting expert who instructed 16 trainees in slaughtering techniques and byproduct utilization. The technical drawings and specifications were also supplied by FAO. One of these small-scale slaughterhouses is under construction in the Dominican Republic and another in the
Sudan, while requests for assistance in the establishment of this type of facility have come from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cape Verde and China.
For further information, please contact the Meat Development Group, Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Vi ale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome. Tel. 57973973, 57974368, Cables FOODAGRI Rome, Telex 610181 FAO I, Fax 57973152.
The FAO project Sugar-cane product diversification for animal feeds (TCP/PHI/8954(A)), initiated in the Philippines in 1989, was recently visited and reported to be producing very satisfying results.
The project came into being as a direct result of the decline in the international sugar market. The sugar-cane industry has played a vital role in the economy of the Philippines, and reductions in sugar exports led to the redundancy of approximately 100 000 workers. One of the strategies used to resolve the situation has been to diversify utilization of sugar-cane production. The FAO project has endeavoured to encourage planters to cater for animal feeding. Various sugar-cane products are now used for feeding different species: cane tops for cattle and carabao, juice for pigs and bagasse for goats, cattle and carabao - bagasse is also used as fuel.
Systems of sugar-cane utilization in animal feeding and further developments in processing have been demonstrated to farmers participating in the project in several Philippine villages. Several farmers in the villages of Bangar and Bantog, near Tarlac (Central Luzon), are using sugar-cane juice from their latest harvest and sugar-cane syrup from the previous one. One farmer, never having raised pigs before, increased his herd from one to nine and raised seven batches of piglets in just over one year.
During a visit to the village of Mabini, on the island of Negros, a group of women demonstrated the crushing of sugar cane with a three-roller mill. They showed keen interest in raising pigs and have also started training in pork processing to obtain better returns from their production.
Seminars were held at the Research and Development Centre of La Granja and at Bacolod on the island of Negros, while another was given to the staff of the Bureau of Animal Industries and the Sugar Regulatory Administration. The feasibility of manufacturing cane-crushers and gasifiers locally in order to use bagasse in the production of electricity at the village level is also being considered.
Pig and sheep feeding trials have taken place at the Alabang Station of the Bureau of Animal Industries where 3.5 ha of sugar cane have been planted. However, before this harvest became available, the trials were carried out using juice from a local sugar factory. The manufacture of fish silage with molasses, for use as a protein supplement, was also demonstrated at Alabang as well as the manufacture of four different formulas of molasses blocks using local ingredients.
Literature on the techniques of sugarcane utilization in animal feed may be obtained from R. Sansoucy, Senior Officer (Feed Resources Group), Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Rome.
