CorePig - Prävention ausgewählter Erkrankungen und Parasiten in biologischen Schweinebetrieben durch ein HACCP basiertes Management- und Überwachungssystem

Summary

The overall objective of the project CorePig is to promote animal health and welfare in organic pig herds in Europe. The variation in pig health between organic herds is likely to be caused by different management routines in the herds. To improve animal welfare it is therefore important to investigate the correlation between management and parasite/disease occurrence, and based on this, to develop a disease management tool applicable on farm. This will be achieved by carrying out the following three components:
• To conduct an international knowledge synthesis for identifying needs for future research into disease and parasite prevention in organic pig production
• To estimate risk factors for selected diseases and parasites in pigs in European organic herds by conducting an epidemiological survey in European organic pig herds.
• To develop and evaluate a HACCP based management and surveillance system for organic pig herds that will enable the organic pig farmer to prevent selected pig diseases and welfare problems by monitoring and controlling the risk factors
The results obtained in this study will benefit animal health and welfare of pigs in organic production systems, as well as the productivity in these herds. Knowledge of risk factors for disease in organic pigs will facilitate efforts to improve animal health in organic pig production, and organic pig producers will benefit from improved animal welfare on-farm by applying an efficient and feasible disease management tool. This will assist in promoting more sustainable farming systems and supporting the rural economy with special relevance to small farmers. The expected improvement in animal welfare in organic pig production is expected to enhance consumer interest in organic pork, and consequently lead to an increased market share of organic meat for the benefit of the economy in organic pig production.
Furthermore, the project aims to identify relevant research needs related to parasite and disease management in organic pig production. This can be applied to target future research to the actual problems experienced in commercial organic production.