The rain was not an impediment for almost a hundred small poultry producers from the province of Cotopaxi, part of the Union of Egg Producers (Uniproh), from 3:00 p.m. to stage a sit-in this Wednesday, January 18, on the outskirts of the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), in Quito, to demand concrete solutions from the Government regarding the avian flu outbreaks detected to date in that province, Bolívar and Tungurahua. They also asked to make adjustments to the contingency plan that has been applied since the declaration of an animal health emergency that has been in force since last November 29, after the first outbreak of the virus.
Until last Monday, the MAG had reported seven outbreaks of avian influenza and more than 867,000 infected birds.
Two new outbreaks of avian influenza are detected in Tungurahua farms
Meanwhile, within the requirements of poultry producers, it is clear that, for example, technicians from the Association of Balanced Feed Manufacturers and Poultry Farmers of Tungurahua (Asofabat) and the Association of Poultry Farmers of Cotaló (Asavico) are part of the meetings of the Poultry technical subcommittee, which is made up of authorities and representatives of the sector.
In this regard, Patricio Almeida, executive director of the Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad), responded to a letter sent by Segundo Corrales, general manager of Incubadora Andina (Incubadina), confirming that Asavico’s request was received, which has been considered for acceptance by the Agency for participation in the next meeting of the Poultry Technical Subcommittee.
The poultry farmers also requested that an urgent date be defined to continue with the financial technical table, where the establishment of a mechanism that allows compensation for the economic losses of the affected and intervened producers is discussed.
For this, the producers propose the creation of an economic subsidy for the sector. In addition, they asked to define a financial product that allows the affected farms to have some flexibility, refinancing or facilities for the payment of their outstanding credits.
Almeida pointed out that on the subject of the compensation program for those affected, the MAG has coordinated with Banecuador and the Ministry of Economy and Finance a line of credit conditioned to attend to the emergency for producers.
“This topic will be communicated and socialized in a timely manner with the poultry associations. The commitment of Agrocalidad and MAG with the poultry sector is to contain the outbreak in the affected provinces and provide assistance and accompaniment to those affected,” said the head of Agrocalidad.
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Minister was going to receive leaders, but they “have opted for a measure of pressure”
Meanwhile, the MAG also spoke out after the sit-in of the poultry producers, in Quito.
“Given the sit-in called by unions of small egg producers, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) we believe it is important to point out that we have responded to the demands that supposedly motivate the mobilization,” said the State portfolio, noting that Minister Bernardo Manzano has met with producers and union representatives on -at least- six occasions to report on monitoring and control actions, has cleared doubts, installed technical tables; and visited the control points around the perimeter of the first outbreak detected.
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The minister was scheduled to receive several of the leaders participating in the sit-in at 5:00 p.m. this Wednesday, to advance this process of information exchange. However, they have opted for a measure of pressure, lamented the MAG.
“We call on small producers not to allow this contingency to become a weapon of political manipulation. In addition, we ratify the willingness to continue working on the technical table and achieve actions that protect national production, improve biosafety measures and contemplate favorable conditions for the economic reactivation of those affected,” the Ministry reported. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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