Northwest Guadalcanal is anticipating an increase in pig production activity after the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) through its Livestock Department conducted a three-day piggery training aimed at enhancing pig farmers capacity in the area last week.
Deputy Director of Livestock Hearley Atupule and his officers facilitated the training that ran from 6th-8th October 2021 at Jack Chottu’s area, Doma.
About 14 pig farmers participated and enriched their knowledge and understanding about animal (pig) appropriate husbandry practices and management for guaranteed profitability.
The training involved both theory and field demonstration activities.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Director of Livestock Banabas Kega encourages participants to go out and utilize the knowledge and skills learned during the training.
“Putting into practice what you have acquired from the training is important. I believe there would be challenges but I encourage you not to give up. Never stop. Keep learning and keep improving your pig farms.”
He thanked Jack Chottu for taking the initiative in organizing the farmer group and invited MAL to facilitate the training.
“I am pleased with the initiative and MAL always glad to support farmers who organized themselves in groups. I must thank your team leader Jack Chottu for taking this initiative to organize you as a group and seek us to support you with this training,”Mr. Kega emphasized.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, team leader Jack Chottu acknowledged MAL for its continuous support to farmers in the country.
He said agriculture is the only development that touches hearts of rural people and with such training support, farmers can build on their capacity to progress further.
“The training is timely and very important because it help us to identify our problems and find solutions to address it and make sure we progress. Problem is not a thing for us to shame of it or upset over it but it is something we should improve it,”Mr. Chottu stressed.
He said the training was the first of its kind especially on piggery organized for his livestock farmer group.
“At the first place we thought that every one of us can feed pig but from the training, it’s clear that we have no idea on how to properly keep pig. Like we gave food and water to pigs at anyhow, its house not even properly built. We thought pig is a dirty animal but what we learned from the presentations is that pig is a clean animal. So we must look after them well and respect them as human beings too. Also for the first time in my life I learned that pig need salt and sugar, it’s a new thing which all of us do not know. This training is timely and we will utilize the knowledge and skills acquired to improve our pig farms,”Mr. Chottu stated.
He said the training was a starting point for his farmer group as they are looking forward to arrange other trainings in areas like honey and poultry.
“We could arrange other trainings like in honey and poultry but we have to start somewhere. This is a starting point for us. With this training I believe our farmers will improve their pig pens and properly manage their farms for improve productivity,”he said.
He then thanked MAL Livestock officers for enabling the training and ensure it was successfully done.
Deputy Director of Livestock Mr. Atupule while thanking participants for committing their time during the three days said putting into practice and utilizing of the knowledge and skills acquired is important.
“Start small and progress. To be great you have to make yourself small. So I want you to have confident and have vision. To be successful in any project you need proper planning. Pig farming is our livelihood and part of our food security. Therefore, proper husbandry and management of our pig farms is critical for better productivity,”Mr. Atupule encouraged the participants.
Members who involved in the training are; Deputy Director of Livestock, Hearley Atupule, Principal Livestock Officer Guadalcanal Province James Poghula, Principal Livestock Officer Max Lazarus and Livestock officer Jenny.
The training concluded with certificate presentations.
– MAL
