The regional government has awarded a direct subsidy of 112,000 euros to the Lorca Swine Livestock Sanitary Defense group (Adespolorca) for the reestablishment of the activity of its Artificial Insemination Center, as reported today by the Minister of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and the Environment, Antonio Luengo, during a visit to this town.
Luengo explained that the center “operated at full capacity until, at the beginning of 2020, a viral outbreak associated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome forced the sanitary emptying of the facilities and the elimination of all the boars present, which meant the cessation of the provision of services to pig farms in the area ”.
For this reason, added the counselor, “the Autonomous Community, as a result of its commitment to the pig sector, and especially with small and medium-sized farmers, deemed it necessary to collaborate economically in the reestablishment of the activity of the center, so that it can continue offering its services to all pig farmers in the region, which will allow them to acquire 52 boars, thus contributing to genetic improvement and increased profitability of the farms ”.
Adespolorca, which was created to raise the sanitary level and productivity of integrated livestock farms, has among its facilities this center, recognized as a Regional Center for Artificial Insemination of Pigs, non-profit, with a capacity for 100 stallions and 12 independent quarantine places.
Currently, the Region is the second province in Spain with the largest pig production census. It has about 1,500 active farms and a census of 158,000 breeding birds, which represents more than 4 million
annual fattening pigs. The municipalities of Lorca and Puerto Lumbreras are home to approximately half of the regional farms, with a census of 50,000 breeders and 676,200 places for fattening animals.
Slurry injection project
The counselor Antonio Luengo made this announcement during his visit to an agricultural farm, with representatives of the Cooperativa de Ganaderos de Gestión Medioambiental de Purines de Lorca, Gesalor, where he learned about the project to enhance the value of the slurry through s injected into the land cultivation.
“Livestock manure has always been considered a resource of great value for the fertilization of the land, for providing nutrients to crops, improving their texture and increasing the capacity of the land to retain water”, explained Luengo, “so it is essential to correctly assess these slurries, guaranteeing environmental protection ”.
With this objective, Adespolorca and Gesalor have managed to integrate 90 pig farmers with about 200 farms and a census of more than 200,000 animals, to manage about 1 million cubic meters / year that will be used, in 5,500 hectares of agricultural use , in an agronomically correct way through tanks equipped with the most advanced software for measurement and monitored distribution, allowing a comprehensive control of the management system.
In addition, and in line with the use of the best techniques in the application of slurry on agricultural plots with the aim of mitigating ammonia emissions, this application by means of hanging tubes or superficial, deep or immediately buried injection, will be an important reduction of emissions between 30-60 percent with respect to that previously used by cannon or fan, reaffirming the sector’s commitment to environmental protection.
The counselor recalled that this initiative “coincides with the actions included in the eco-scheme for the fight against desertification, contributes to maintaining agricultural activity as an element against climate change, acts against the reduction of erosion through the contribution of slurry processed by injection into crops with or without plant cover, minimizes polluting and greenhouse gas emissions, or maintains biodiversity
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