PHNOM PENH: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China has donated 1 million animal vaccines to Cambodia to help contribute to efforts to prevent the spread of animal diseases.
On Tuesday morning, 27 December, the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries organized a handover ceremony to officially receive the 1 million animal vaccines donated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China. The Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Dith Tina, and Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, presided over the ceremony.
The current vaccination donation bundle includes three doses of foot and mouth disease vaccines for 500,000 livestock, and 500,000 doses of animal chickenpox vaccines as well. These vaccines are expected to help prevent the spread of animal diseases in Cambodia.
Minister Dith Tina said that the livestock sector plays an important role in increasing income and boosting the national economy. In the past, he said the General Department of Animal Health and Animal Production, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, have made efforts to promote this sector, but problems such as the spread of animal diseases have affected the rate of breeding along with the supply of meat and animal products on the market, therefore affecting the economy as well.
Cambodia has experienced outbreaks of diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, cattle disease, swine fever, bird flu, African swine fever and cattle skin diseases that have caused serious damage to livestock, especially affecting rural farmers. The Minister of Agriculture stated that limited laboratories and capacity of human resources have also had a significant impact on the development of the livestock sector.
Past cooperation between Cambodia and China in the main agricultural sectors, such as crops, animal husbandry, fisheries and rubber, have been fully implemented and fruitful. Recently, Cambodia has begun exporting longan to China, exporting more than 2,600 tons as of 21 December 2022. In the future Cambodia, expects to begin exporting corn, pepper and other agricultural products to the Chinese market as well.
