ArmInfo. Today, the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia presented a program of the identification and numbering system for livestock, which was developed by the State Food Security Service of the Republic of Armenia in conjunction with the Center for Agrobusiness and Rural Development (CARD) and other international organizations.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture, as a result of the program, it is expected that the predictability of animal diseases and health will be more effective, better management of food security, breeding of pedigree livestock, and expansion of export opportunities. At the same time, the program provides for the creation of a state numbering and identification fund for animals. The head office of the Foundation will be located in Yerevan, and 42 departments in the regions.
The participants of the meeting attached special importance to informing communities about the implementation of the program and agreed to discuss the package of the program with donor and other international structures in order to start implementation in the shortest possible time.
"This is a very important program, without which development of cattle breeding is impossible," said Agriculture Minister of Armenia Ignati Arakelyan. He noted that the program includes veterinary, supervision, and quality improvement, which will ensure a more reasonable and systematic development of the sphere in Armenia.
For his part, the head of the State Food Security Service of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, Ishkhan Karapetyan, added that complex changes in the sphere have been initiated. Henceforth, the slaughter of cattle in slaughterhouses, the development of veterinarian skills in communities, the numbering of animals and the compilation of an epidemiological chart become mandatory.
According to the source, the head of the technical cooperation office of the Austrian Embassy and the Austrian Development Agency Gerhard Schauberger, the chief specialist of the WB agriculture Arusyak Alaverdyan also took part in the meeting.