PPILOW Romanian National Workshop

The PPILOW Romanian National Workshop entitled “Phytotherapeutic remedies used in swine low input farms, their antiparasitic and antibacterial efficacy” was held on September 15^th 2023 in Cluj-Napoca, and led by the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj, in partnership with the the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences “Gheorghe Ionescu-Şişeşti” Bucarest and the Association of pig farmers from traditional Mangalitsa and Bazna breeds. The workshop was an independent PPILOW event, with approximately 60 participants, consisting of: farmers and representatives of the Association of pig farmers from traditional Mangalitsa and Bazna breeds; members of the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences “Gheorghe Ionescu-Sişeşti” (A.S.A.S.) Bucharest; local and regional policymakers; consumers; professors, researchers, PhD candidates, students, and technicians from USAMVCN; and members of the NPG facilitators, Romania.

The aims of the workshop were: disseminating the information from the PPILOW project within the swine farmer community and among young people; incentivizing the involvement of NPG Romania in developing strategic decisions, strengthening contacts with farmers, and further investigating their needs, to ensure the welfare and health of animals in low-input farms; maintaining ongoing cooperation with academia and researchers specializing in the technology and welfare of swine from low-input farms; to encourage Government support of local breed farmers and specialists, to increase the breed’s overall value as well as to build a strong genetic pool.

The agenda of the USAMV Cluj-Napoca Workshop was as follows: the PPILOW general presentation; establishing the aims of the PPILOW and ROAM FREE projects; two presentation sessions entitled “Phytotherapeutic remedies used in swine low input farms, their antiparasitic efficacy” and “Improved piglet/sow feeding methodology using herbal supplements to limit microbial infectious load”; a poster session for the PPILOW meeting in Perugia. The debate sparked great interest among farmers, generating discussions on: the importance of controlling microbial and parasitic diseases using plants from Romania’s flora; the costs, accessibility, efficiency, and roles required for the transition to organic farming; addressing the concerns over infectious diseases such as classical swine fever and African swine fever, and their consequences on low-input farms in Romania; and the impact of the geopolitical situation generated by the war in Ukraine, and its subsequent energy crisis on pig farming in Transylvania, and nationally.

The participants received a dossier containing informative leaflets about the PPILOW Romania project along with a memory stick with publications from the project and the PowerPoint presentations held during the Workshop.