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In a bid to stem the spread of the Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) disease, 852 herds of cattle have been slaughtered in the Central Province.
Provincial permanent secretary Milner Mwanakampwe revealed that the cattle in question were slaughtered at a designated farm to prevent the disease from spreading to other farms.
The Zambia News Agency reports that Mr Mwanakampwe made the remarks while officially opening the 2024 Provincial Agriculture and Business Expo, themed “Creating a Competitive Future” at the Godfrey Ukal Chitalu Stadium in Kabwe.
He found that livestock diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and rinderpest continued to ravage the province, depriving farmers of much-needed animal power, fertilizer, nutrition and income.
He said the veterinary services target is to vaccinate 590,000 cattle against FMD in 10 districts of the province, of which 47,551 cattle have been vaccinated in Mkushi district.
He added that the department was also conducting testing and slaughtering activities on animals detected with CBPP disease, of which 852 cattle had been destroyed.
Mr Mwanakampwe admitted that expected production of rain-fed crops in the 2023/2024 season is generally poorer compared to the 2022/2023 season.
“Except for millet, sorghum and burley tobacco, which have seen an increase in expected production compared to the previous season, the expected production of all crops harvested has declined,” he said.
However, he was pleased to see that despite the drought that had adversely affected yields in the province, it still ranked first in production of nine crops, including corn seed, barley, Irish potatoes, wheat and soybeans.
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