FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Animal husbandry is dying out. Only in the last year, the number of cattle has decreased by 35 thousand. From 298 thousand cows or heifers, data from the Institute of Statistics show that their number decreased to only 263 thousand at the end of last year. The decrease is even stronger if the figures are compared with 2019.
"Livestock in our country is almost non-existent, abandoned, and from year to year we are seeing a decrease in the number of cattle throughout the country. We see that when it comes to incentive schemes, they are insufficient", he says.
Low support due to truncated funds is a reason that is also confirmed by the farmers themselves.
"Of course, if we have subsidies, we will also increase the number of cattle. But the opposite is happening here. Everything that is shrinking", said Mariglen Ziu, farmer.
As a result of the reduction in the number of cattle, at a time when Albanian consumers are facing high dairy prices, almost 70 thousand tons of milk less were produced last year. Meanwhile, compared to the year 2021, the amount of milk produced has decreased by over 112 thousand tons.
"Of course we are affected by global prices, but the fact that we have such a high dependence on imports makes us more exposed to price increases. In the end, the consumers suffer", said Esmeralda Ballesha, an expert in the agricultural and livestock sector.
Data from INSTAT show that in total last year there were about 2.3 million livestock and poultry in the country. Most of them, 42 percent are cattle, followed by small animals, poultry, ungulates and pigs. /A2 CNN
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