​One of the largest farmers in Romania, Dimitrie Muska, warns that the price of pork may double in the next period, reports Agerpres.

Director of the Agro-Industrial Complex (CAI) Kurtici Dimitrie Muska told Agerpres that food prices are “going at a gallop” and pork will become more expensive.

“The main reason is, of course, the increase in feed prices, but no less than the increase in the prices of electricity and methane gas, which is used in agriculture, especially where we have industrialization, because slaughterhouses, dairies, bread, gas cannot be done without. . The price of corn has increased to 1.5-1.6 lei, but this is not the highest level it should be,” says the farmer.

In the case of pork, Muska says that another major reason for the price increase that has happened and will follow is the African swine fever, which has reduced the number of pigs in Romania, and “currently about 85% of imported pork is consumed in Romania.”

The farmer blames the authorities for not preparing for swine fever

CAI director Curtici believes that the authorities have not taken sufficient measures to combat swine fever, and wild pigs are still the main vector of the disease.

“They didn’t disinfect, they didn’t bury the corpses in the forest (boars – no). All European countries are in a hurry to destroy and prevent the spread of African swine fever, in our country the wild boar has very clearly proved that it is the most important vector. Households were not the most important vector because households are very easy to intervene, DSVs come quickly, kill pigs and solve the problem. If it weren’t for this vector, which is a wild boar, we could certainly cope with this work,” he explains.

He believes that the “only chance” is the “total destruction of the wild boar population” and re-introduction after a few years, when the plague has completely disappeared from Romania.

In 2021, more than 20,000 pigs from the CAI Curtici farm were culled as a preventive measure due to African swine fever.

“I moved in again, I invested 10 million lei in the complex, but now what guarantee do I have that the plague will not come to me again? Because they are wild boars. This week, a wild boar was shot 15 kilometers from our headquarters,” says the farmer.

How much can the price of meat reach

Muska declares that “the price of pork will double” and “in the end, a cutlet or a neck will cost 40 lei per kilogram, where it was 20-22 lei.”

“It will go (the price – no), because we don’t have any more (meat – no), if we still produce 15% today, then this is a cruel reality,” says the farmer.

CAI Curtici manages farms with a total of 50,000 pigs, 3,000 cows, 7,600 hectares of agricultural land and 36 outlets, mainly for meat, meat products and dairy products.

PHOTO: Dreamstime.com.