Enhanced pig productivity on smallholder farms is recognised as a necessary strategy to enhance financial and food security in Timor-Leste where poverty and malnutrition are abundant. While poor pig health is recognised as a main constraint, information on pig herd health and management have not been thoroughly quantified.
This study surveyed 120 pig owners (63 were female) and 352 of their pigs in Bacau and Bobonaro municipalities in 2018 to develop baseline information. Our analysis investigated three management systems among surveyed pig owners: confined management, characterised by permanent penning and/or tethering pigs (33.6 per cent), semi-confined management (39.7 per cent) and free-roaming management (27.7 per cent). Free-roaming management was only observed in non-urban villages.
Most inputs were limited across all management types with heavy reliance on cooked household scraps to feed pigs (84.7 per cent), limited use of commercial feeds (5.1 per cent), a lack of routine pen cleaning (73.8 per cent), a lack of vaccination against classical swine fever (72.9 per cent), limited use of para-veterinary services when pigs were sick (71.7 per cent), and low treatment rates for pig skin diseases (10.3 per cent) and intestinal parasites (8.7 per cent). A high use of uncontrolled breeding (79.1 per cent) was identified, accompanied by a limited knowledge of oestrus (20.7 per cent) and gestation length (24.1 per cent).
Low output was observed with animals mainly sold when money is needed or when they were old. There was poor health with high piglet mortality rate (22.4–24.4 per cent), moderate rates of current illness (22.4 per cent), common occurrence of mites (12.2 per cent), and high faecal presence of A. suum (29.0 per cent), T. suis (10.2 per cent), and S. ransomi (22.7 per cent). To overcome the widespread constraints to productivity affecting all management systems, and to limit the impacts of highly infectious and often fatal African swine fever which was first reported in Timor-Leste pigs in September 2019, improved animal health and veterinary support, and education on pig management and suitable available nutrition sources are needed.
Alipio De Almeidaab, Luisa Olmob, Richard Coplandc, Robyn Aldersde, Jenny-Ann L.M.L.Toribiob
Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports.2021;26. doi:10.1016/j.vprsr.2021.100615.
a Animal Health Department, Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL) Dili, Timor-Leste.
b The University of Sydney, School of Veterinary Science, Camden, NSW, Australia.
c School of Animal Studies, The University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.
d Development Policy Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
e Kyeema Foundation, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.