Analysis of mortality pattern among indigenous and upgraded pigs under subtropical hill agro climatic conditions in eastern Himalayas

Mortality records of indigenous and upgraded pigs, reared under subtropical hill agro climatic conditions, were collected for the period of 11 years (1993–2003), analyzed and the mortality pattern was correlated with genetic group, age of pigs, climatic factors and causes of death. Results revealed that there was significant (p < 0.05) difference in mortality between the indigenous (6.05%) and upgraded (5.64%) pigs. The mortality percentage was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in both genetic groups between 0 and 4 months of age compared to seven months and above age groups. Among different seasons, significantly (p < 0.05) higher mortality was observed during post-monsoon and winter compared to other seasons. The overall mortality percentage was 4.74, 5.25, 7.51 and 6.56 during pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon and winter seasons, respectively. Indigenous pigs recorded significantly (p < 0.05) higher pre-weaning mortality (14.26%) than the upgraded (9.58%) pigs. Among different causes, digestive disorders accounted to significantly (p < 0.05) higher mortality followed by miscellaneous and respiratory disorders. The study developed a linear regression model, which could fairly predict the mortality pattern based on the rainfall, relative humidity and temperature (R² = 58.3%).     

Integrated resource-driven pig production systems in a mountainous area of Northeast India: production practices and pig performance

Data on pig production system was derived through structured household interviews from a total number of 320 rural households and performance of pigs was assessed. Results revealed that the pig production system represented mixed farming based mainly on the common property resources. Majority of the pigs were reared in intensive system and fed with home made cooked feed (kitchen waste and locally available plants). The body weight of crossbred, Burmese and local pigs were 67, 65.4 and 45.6 kg, respectively at 12 months of age with average daily body weight of 184, 179 and 125 g, respectively. The overall mortality among the pigs was 17.96%. The major causes of mortality in pigs were Swine fever, Swine erysipelas, digestive disorders, nephritis and respiratory disorders. The body weight gain in pigs subjected to deworming and mineral mixture supplementation (218 g/day) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the control group (178 g/day). The input output ratio was 1:1.7 for both crossbred and Burmese pigs, while the corresponding ratio for local pigs was 1:1.2. It is inferred that the smallholder resource driven pig production system is economically viable and sustainable at household level and there is enough scope to improve the smallholder resource driven pig production system.     

Investigation into the Effect of Altitude on the Differential Hemocyte Count of Circulating Plasmatocytes and Granulocytes of Larval Stage of Antheraea assama (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

Differential hemocyte count of circulating plasmatocytes (PL) and granulocytes (GR) of fifth-instar larvae of Muga Silkworm Antheraea assama Westwood (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) reared at four different sericulture farms situated at different altitudes, viz, Khanapara State Sericulture Farm, Assam, altitude 55.5 m above sea level (ASL); Nongpoh (Central Silk Board farm), Meghalaya, altitude 464 m ASL; Tura (Central Silk Board farm), West Garo Hills, Meghalaya, 657 m ASL; and Kalimpong (Central Silk Board farm), West Bengal, altitude 1,247 m ASL, were calculated and compared to investigate the effect of altitude on the number of PL and GR per mm³ of larval hemolymph. The investigation showed that the mean circulating PL and GR were highest at Khanapara (55.5 m ASL) located at the lowest altitude, whereas their numbers gradually decreased with increase in altitude at Nongpoh (464 m ASL), Tura (657 m ASL), and Kalimpong (1,247 m ASL). This may be attributed to the average environmental temperatures observed at different altitudes, which may affect the overall hemocyte load of larval stages reared at those altitudes.