Pig farming is an important way of livelihood for people of North East India. Therapeutic and prophylactic use of antibiotics on pig farms has become an integral part of farm health management. This practice has raised concerns of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in animals, and moreover, the consumers. AMR is selected and perpetuated not only by the regular use of antibiotics as therapeutic agents, but also as feed additives in animals. In the present study a survey was conducted in six pig farms of three NE states of India regarding the use of antibiotics in feed and treatment purpose. It was observed that penicillin, ampicillin, cephalosporin, cephalaxin and clavulanic acid plus amoxycillin were commonly used antibiotics for the therapeutic purpose. Monensin, amprolium, bacitracin, neomycin and chlortetracycline were used in the feed for prophylaxis, and amoxicillin, oxytetracycline and streptomycin were used for dual purpose. Antibiotics as a growth promoter, improves growth rate, feed efficiency, reduce mortality and morbidity, and improves reproductive performance. The observations of the present study may provide an idea of quantitative contribution of pig farming to antimicrobial resistance and can help in building appropriate intervention strategies to optimize the use of antibiotics in pig production.

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