• Waste Management
• Pig Health Management

Waste Management

1.1   All farms in the new Pig Farming Areas (PFAs) must fulfill the declared tertiary effluent standards by the authority as shown below:-

Table1: Effluent Standards

Parameter	Units	Standards
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)	mg/L	500
Biochemical OxygenDemand (BOD)	mg/L	50
Total SuspendedSolids (TSS)	mg/L	100
Ammoniacal Nitrogen	mg/L	200
Stabilised Solids	kg/t	200

Besides complying with the these technical standards, new PFAs are to be established in areas where farming does not cause public nuisance or communal sensitivities and above all the pig farming is compatible with the economic and commercial activities of the surrounding areas. Palm oil cropping, rubber planting, unused ex-mined land and forest areas are deemed compatible.

1.2   Practices in the existing pig farms generate up to 40 litre of waste    water per SPP daily. Such large volume  increases the cost for any waste water management system to comply with the effluent standards. Also many of the existing farms do not have separate rainwater/ storm water collection system, and therefore this rainwater also overloads the waste water system. Therefore, in the new PFAs,  irrespective of the technology and waste management system used, the following principles apply:-

• source reduction of waste and waste water volume to be treated
• minimise additional volumetric and quantitative pollutants to load to treatment system
• the choice of technologies and the system should take into account of an optimum balance of land cost,  land area available, the initial installation cost and the operation cost of the waste management system used
• the level of technical capability to operate the system
• the housing and pen designs and the barns layout of the farm compatible with the waste removal system
• adequate safety factors to cater for some variables and fluctuations on farms conditions

1.3   Pig farming in the new PFAs should restrict excess usage of water to “bathe the pigs and wash the pens daily”. Minimise usage of excess water means a saving in cost on waste water management. Besides, these new PFAs may not have the luxury of enjoying the supply of very cheap water for such excess and unnecessary usage. 

Therefore, it is imperative that the layout of the farm and the designs of the pens and the barns should not require the excessive water usage. The initial cost of such pens and housing will be higher, but there will be saving in the installation and operation costs of the waste management system. The various waste management systems and the variety of configurations and combinations is best left to the experts and consultant companies. 

The consultants will design a system tailored to the farm’s need, but they have to optimise cost and take full considerations of the principles listed in paragraph 1.2 of this paper. If land cost is low to moderate, a land-extensive system (eg. lagoons system) will be economical and normally operates with less technical hindrances.

1.4   Waste management incurs costs. However, waste resource recovery (eg. fertilizers production) could offset certain costs. The cost per pig marketed will depend on the system used and the cost-efficiency of the system. This could vary from 5% to 10% of the total production cost of a pig. It is envisaged that a system for a single small farm (say below 1,000 SPP) may be completely uneconomical. The principle of economies of scale applies in waste water management.

Technology in pig farm waste management improves rapidly. New technologies and new systems are adding on fast. There are such high variations in initial installation costs and the subsequent running costs. It is necessary that a system of optimum cost for that farm be tailored made accordingly. A word of caution is that often “a farm waste management takes time (probably at least 6 months operation after full pig population) to stabilise and prove its true efficiency and real worth. Thus, payment to the consultants should take recognition of the prolonged “maturing period of a system”.

Pig Health Management

2.1   The very high concentration of pigs in a very intensive farming system in a new PFA poses the greatest challenge to the veterinarians to keep diseases at controllable levels. Adopting this system of farming pigs is against the logical principles in disease control. However, the industry expects the ingenuity of the technical personnels to prove their worth.  Also, this is where the discipline of farmers will be most vital to safeguard against scourge from disease infections.

For practical purpose, all the farm units together within a PFA is a “single very big farm” in term of herd health.  In most of the existing farms, the farmers always  source pigs from farms without concern about the health status of the supplier farms.  Then these pigs are brought into their farms without quarantine. Such risk has been amply proven by the spreading of the so many introduced exotic diseases over the last two decades, the outbreak of the coronaviral gastroenteritis in 1994, and of course the Nipah virus infection in 1998/1999.  That exotic diseases have been repeatedly introduced with ease served to show that the health requirement for importation of live animals is laxed.

There is the urgent need to continuously review such importation health requirements.  If such weaknesses persist within the PFA’s, the catastrophic effects of diseases would be amplified.  On the other hand, the establishment of new PFA’s would provide the opportunity to create relatively disease free herds or even some specific diseases free herds.

2.2  In the implementation of the PFA programme, the following issues require very serious attention, and deserves compulsory adoption in the management of each PFA. They are:-

1. Very rigid and strict adoption of biosecurity measures.
2. Proactive and efficient veterinary services.
3. Farmers’ commitment to strict discipline and self-regulation, plus strict enforcement by PFA’s central management and
4. The sources for relatively diseases free and specific diseases free breeders.

1. BIOSECURITY FOR PFAs: The proximity of the farm units and the high concentration of pig numbers necessitates that the whole PFA be run as a single farm in term of health programme and disease control.  The Veterinary Management Team(VMT) of thatPFA is paramount in terms of health programmes and disease control in that PFA, and should have the full authority to institute disease control measures on any of the farms in that PFA.  The farmers shall comply fully to all rulings and instructions from the VMT.  The biosecurity measures deemed essential are:-
1. standard serological disease monitoring programme
2. standard vaccination program
3. all pigs are ear notched to denote farm ownership.
4. any introduction of genetics (including live pigs) is done centrally, and they are sourced from only accredited sources.  The live pigs introduced are quarantined, blood tested and may be subject to prophylactic therapy before release to the farmers in that PFA, and
5. VMT has the authority to destroy or dispose off pigs (with limited compensation to the farmers) that pose any danger to the farms in the PFA.
2. The Veterinary Management Team(VMT) of a PFA is fully responsible to provide a proactive and efficient veterinary service for all the farms in that PFA.  The VMT has the full authority to institute measures (included forced culling of pigs) deemed necessary to maintain a health status that allows profitable pig farming in the PFA.  The VMT is fully responsible to decide on all biosecurity measures and the enforcement of these practices to ensure the overall health status of the PFA is maintained.
• To ensure certain uniformity of standard practices and matter of biosecurity and veterinary service in the PFAs, the NSPC shall establish the “NSPC Veterinary Panel”(NVP) to co-ordinate and provide the technical support to the VMT. Human resource development for specialised post graduate training on veterinary services will be the responsibility of NSPC. Laboratory diagnostic services shall continue to be sourced from the Department of Veterinary Services, but supplemented and complemented by services from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
3. Every farmer in a PFA has to adopt the principle of self-regulation and strict discipline on matters of farm biosecurity and veterinary care.  This is most necessary for the common good and the success of the PFA.  The central management of the PFA has the full authority to discipline any farmer for disregarding any instructions.  The concern about the common welfare of the PFA overrides all personal choices or benefits.
4. Operation of a new PFA must start with pigs that are relatively disease free and also specific diseases free.  Currently, are there such breeding farms that can provide such breeders?  Therefore, the establishment of a few accredited farms is a matter of priority and urgency.  Such accredited breeding farms will probably have to source their nucleus (GP and GGP) stocks from overseas accredited farms.  The establishment of such breeding farms should tap upon the expertise from overseas. The accreditation of the local breeder suppliers by the relevant authorities serve to assure the buyers the guaranteed status of the stocks.

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