ABOUT THE PROJECT
At the same time, the increased cost of purchasing anti-parasitic drugs in combination with the increased working hours for their administration contribute to the increase in the cost of the livestock products produced (milk and meat), thus reducing the competitiveness of Greek products.
The reduction of the parasite load is essential for the health and productivity of sheep, especially when carried out at the appropriate times (trough period and dry period). However, in these periods, the wrong way of administering the antiparasitic drugs poses risks both for the animals themselves (intense stress) affecting their well-being and for the underlying production (decrease in milk).
The cumulative use of these drugs increases the pollution of the environment as, after their metabolism and action, they are excreted with the feces, urine and other biological fluids from the sheep’s body into the environment. At the same time, specific active metabolites after their excretion by the animals exert their antiparasitic effect on the beneficial arthropods (contribute to the degradation of the excreta) in the environment, killing them. Finally, consumer demand for products free of drug residues (respect for withdrawal times) has led to the adoption of alternative deparasitization methods, which include the selective breeding of deparasitization-resistant animals.
