The Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board has declared August as Pig Insurance Month, in a push to sign up more swine farmers to a recently introduced insurance scheme for producers hit by the African Swine Fever outbreak.
The scheme was set up following a decision by the Presidential Task Force to strengthen the swine farming sector and cushion farmers against disease-related losses, Ada Derana reported. Officials said the August campaign is aimed squarely at raising the number of insured breeding pigs, with the board encouraging farmers to bring breeding stock under cover.
Under the terms of the programme, breeding pigs aged between six months and four years qualify for annual coverage, with a maximum insured value of Rs. 200,000 per animal. The policy pays out on deaths caused by African Swine Fever, accidents and other pig-related diseases.
Cover extends to breeding animals kept at commercially operated swine farms registered with the Department of Animal Production and Health.
Farmers seeking details have been asked to contact their nearest Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board district office, veterinary offices or animal development advisory officers, or to call the hotline 1918.
The initiative is the latest in a run of sector-specific schemes the board has rolled out this year. It launched three-year cover for coffee growers in June, extended crop insurance across cinnamon, rubber, tea and coconut the same month, and introduced a scheme for mushroom growers in July.
African Swine Fever is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs. It carries a high fatality rate in affected herds and has no widely available vaccine, leaving culling and farm biosecurity as the main containment tools.
