BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has urged supportive measures for pig farms to reduce the impact of outbreaks of African swine fever on the country's pork supply.

Local authorities should put in place relative subsidies, financial rewards and insurances to help the affected pig farms resume production, according to a guideline released by the ministry.

In addition to existing policies, provisional allowances should be provided as soon as possible for pig farms, and banks should strengthen credit support for them, according to the guideline.

Outbreaks of African swine fever have reduced the production capacity of pork since the second half of last year, though the disease has been kept under control.

As a result, pork supply could be relatively strained this year, said Yang Hanchun, a professor with China Agricultural University, at a recent press conference held by the ministry.

Pork prices rose 0.3 percent in February from the previous month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.