The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) warned on Wednesday that domestic pig farming is on the verge of collapse. Affected by African swine fever, the sector is at risk of total collapse, the chamber stated, calling for the state to take direct control of the disease management.
Producers, the Chamber states, are fighting for survival against import lobbies and are facing losses. The previous policy of voluntary culling, they judge, has failed completely.
"While farmers implement rigorous biosecurity measures, the 'biological bomb' – the uncontrolled population of wild boar – continues to roam freely through the forests," said HPK President Željko Mihelić. He sees the reason in the partial interests and the open obstruction by some hunting associations. The Ministry of Agriculture, he believes, has tolerated this obstruction for too long.
The Chamber refers to the experiences of Denmark, Germany, and Poland. There, African swine fever is not managed through recommendations but through firm state control. Denmark and Germany have removed autonomy from hunters in crisis zones and deployed professional teams. Poland has imposed direct legal and financial responsibility on hunting associations for the spread of the infection from their hunting grounds.
If hunting associations do not deliver the results prescribed by the order, the state should activate professional forces and specialised teams, the HPK states. If necessary, it adds, the military should be called upon to provide logistical support. They demand that wild boar be reclassified from game to a state-managed biological hazard.
The Minister of Agriculture, David Vlajčić, has the Chamber's support only if he imposes order. 'The Chamber has previously offered partnership, but a partnership without results is merely deception,' the HPK stated. They warned that responsibility for the potential destruction of the sector in this case would fall solely on the Ministry of Agriculture.
