THE DISCOVERY by the Cypriot Veterinary Services of a resistant genotype for scrapie in sheep has brought praise from the EU, which plans to promote the findings to other member states.
Cypriot scientists are currently in the process of finding a resistant genotype for goats as well and if that is also a success, the European Commission (EC) will promote it to all EU states as a means of combating scrapie completely.
The success has also earned Cyprus a postponement of an EC decision to cull 460,000 goats and sheep between August and December 2012.
“Eighteen months ago, the European Commission decided that come August 31, 2012, Cyprus needed to slaughter its entire population of goats and sheep, meaning that around 460,000 animals had to be culled,” Agriculture Minister Demetris Eliades said yesterday.
“Our Veterinary Services started a pilot programme to find a resistant genotype that is resistant to the illness. For this reason, the EC decided to extend its decision until the end of 2012. By this time, I hope the second part of the experiment will be complete.”
Apart from the animals that would have to be killed, he added, €40 million would have to be paid out to farmers in compensation.
The experiment is now being fully funded by the EC as it is a pioneering effort. “We have received praise and many congratulations. When I was recently with the relevant EU Commissioner and in the presence of top-ranking EU technocrats, I felt flattered as a Minister of the Cyprus Republic because of the praise and congratulations bestowed on our scientists,” said Eliades.
He added that not only could the genotype be used by other states, but the EC was waiting for the experiment to wrap so it could be promoted to all member states. “They consider it a significant scientific achievement for Cyprus.”
The minister informed reporters that only the animals that are being used in the experiment would be culled.
Green Party MP George Perdikis said he was pleased his party’s position had been confirmed that slaughtering animals was not the answer. “Our view has been confirmed that this problem can only be solved by taking precautionary measures,” said Perdikis.
Eliades had been attending the House Finance Committee to discuss his ministry’s 2011 budget.
Speaking after the meeting, Committee Chairman, DIKO’s Nicolas Papadopoulos, said he was disappointed that the ministry’s development budget was the lowest of all the ministries.
But he also wondered why the Agriculture Ministry required more in operational expenditures than the Defence Ministry.
“I don’t understand why this is, when the agriculture sector contributes just two per cent to GDP [Gross Domestic Product], yet takes 70 per cent of the island’s water resources,” said Papadopoulos. He also wondered how it was possible for the ministry to employ 23 per cent of all public servants, with 16 per cent alone being employed in the agriculture department of the ministry.
Perdikis complained that the budget lacked funds to promote environmental issues.
