Director of Veterinary Services at the Ministry of Agriculture urge poultry farmers to register with VSD

 Director of Veterinary Services Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Patrick Abakeh has hinted that payment of compensation for bird flu infested farms will be based o with the Veterinary Service Directorate(VSD).

He made the remarks today, Monday, October 31,2022 at Sefwi Wiawso within Western Region admonitioning farmers to register their farms with the Veterinary   Department(VSD).

According to him, registering their farms with the VSD will give the authories the knowledge of the number of farmers and quantity of birds affected.

In view of that Dr. Abakeh entreated poultry farmers to get registered with the VSD ensure that they are covered should there be any compensations.

 He said certification from the governing body, Veterinary Services Directorate will qualify them for compensations at the wake of bird flu outbreaks.

He made the observation on the day one Agricultural Minister's working tour to five regions.

Being the first to present the overview of the progress of Agriculture in the Region, Dr. Abakeh explained that farmers should be vigilant on their farms to identify any possible changes on their animals.

Urging a gathering of stakeholders in the Agric sector including the Minister of Agriculture, input dealers, farmers, Agric Directors, deputies of the minister amongst others noted the importance of keepingg the farm safe rom disease-causing organisms.

The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Honourable Owusu Afriye Akoto in his address to the gathering allayed the fears of poultry farmers of government's resolve to combat the bird flu outbreaks.

According to him, the disease which was identified in regions including Greater Accra, Central,, Eastern, Western, Volta Upper West, Upper West,Estern regions will be dealt with.

He indicated that a total of 280 farms have been affected by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza(HPAI) with a total of 997,743 birds being destroyed. 

The Minister revealed that government has paid some GHS15,630,913.33 as compensation to affected poultry farmers. To control the disease, the ministry of Agriculture has applied for government's support and the government has in turn approved an amount of GHS43,984,017.70 of which the ministry has since released Twenty Millions Ghana cedis.

He said an approval has been given to recruit some thousand one hundred(GHS1100) veterinary personnel out of which 550 veterinary personnel have been recruited and posted. He said the remaining 550 veterinary personnel are yet to be recruited and posted and that will happen within a period of two years.

He further outlined measures to be taken by the farmers to endure that deal with the disease.

According to him, farmers should not accept birds or eggs or mature from other farms into their farms.

He said they should ensure thorough washing of hands with soap and water immediately after handling birds, birds should be confined  from other birds.

He urged farmers to regularly wash poultry equipment and bury or burn dead birds.

Waste should be kept away from the farm house.

Report by Prosper Kwaku Selassy Agbitor