Major boost for poultry farmers
POULTRY farmers in Manicaland Province have received a major boost after Government introduced a vaccination programme to eradicate Newcastle disease.
The programme is currently underway in the province.
In an interview with The Herald, acting provincial veterinary officer Dr Charles Guri said: “Newcastle vaccine is given for free to poultry farmers in rural and resettlement areas in a bid to protect fowl from Newcastle and other diseases.”
The initiative is done annually to immunise poultry from Newcastle and other diseases. The current programme started around May and is expected to last until the end of August.
Chief animal health inspector for Manicaland, Mr Roy Dube, confirmed this when he said: “We have been vaccinating poultry in Manicaland since May and we are looking forward to end the vaccination programme by the end of August.
“This programme was initiated by the Government, which has a mandate to provide vaccines free of charge to poultry farmers.
“At the moment we are only administering poultry vaccinations, which cover a section of guinea fowl and other free range poultry.”
Mr Dube encouraged poultry farmers in Manicaland to present their birds for vaccination.
To date, 363 054 birds have been vaccinated across the province.
Zimbabwe Free Range Poultry Association (ZFRPA) also embarked on a vaccination programme for its members’ chicken stocks.
The association’s provincial chairman Mr Joseph Nyamukungwa said: “This follows an allocation of a Newcastle vaccine the association received from the provincial veterinary office.
“The provincial veterinary office is targeting to vaccinate over 20 000 free range chickens across the province.”
Mr Nyamukungwa received the vaccines on behalf of the association on Wednesday.
“As an association we are very thankful for the support we are receiving from relevant Government departments, especially the provincial veterinary office,” he said.
Mr Nyamukungwa said vaccination was one of the main pillars for the success of the poultry industry alongside other programmes they were doing.
He also hailed the association saying it was pursuing various avenues to reach out to all interested and committed free range farmers across the province.