Livestock development in C hina: animal production, consumption and genetic resources

Animal production in China has been growing dramatically over the past three decades since reform and opening-up. In 2005, China became the largest meat and egg producer and the third largest milk producer in the world. The livestock sector has made a great contribution to ensuring food security and has become a pillar of the rural economy in China. In 2011, its output value was RMB 25.8 trillion (approximately USD 4 trillion) accounting for 31.7% of the total value of agriculture, including crops, forestry, livestock and fishery. Some 15% of the annual cash income of rural households comes from animal production. However, the fast transformation and intensification of livestock production has also an impact on the environment and biodiversity challenging sustainable development. Between 2005 and 2010, meat production increased by 14%, egg production by 28%, milk by 38% and compound feed by 47%. In 2012, meat production added up to 82 million tons with an increase of 5.4% from the previous year. Egg and milk production reached 28 and 37 million tons, respectively, up by 1.8 and 2.3% (Wang, 2013, J. Agric. Management 3, 5–10). The fast intensification of the livestock sector is based on selection and the importation of foreign breeds that are also crossed with the local ones. Between 2007 and 2011, China imported approximately 8.3 million one-day-old chickens, 250 000 breeding cattle, 45 000 turkeys, 38 000 pigs and bovine semen worth USD 38 million. Most of the imported animal stocks are high-output international breeds/lines/strains for commercial production. At the same time, the net livestock production index increased by 15%, and the structure of the agricultural sector has experienced considerable changes: larger average farm sizes, higher number of animals per farm (32% more pigs and 82% more egg layers in units larger than 500 animals, and 28% more dairy cows in units larger than 100). The central and local governments have invested more than RMB 5 billion to build breeding/multiplier farms and conservation farms to drive ahead the breed improvement programmes and the building of centres for testing the quality of breeding stock, semen, etc. As a result, the supply capacity of fine breeds keeps rising, and the number of breeding stock farms has nearly doubled by 2012 relative to 2000, totalling now 4500, which fundamentally addressed the breeding stock shortage. Moreover, the national subsidy policy has accelerated the rise in the popularity of fine breeds and is the driving force behind the constant improvement of livestock production level. A total of 108 new animal breeds or commercial lines have been developed. Animal Husbandry Law was promulgated in 2006 and Regulations on Dairy Quality and Safety Supervision and Management in 2008. In addition to the amendment of Regulations on Feed and Feed Additives Management and the introduction of Supreme People's Court Interpretation on Law Application in the Trial of Criminal Cases Concerning the Destruction of Grassland Resources, a total of 19 supporting regulations have been rolled out. All have played an important role in promoting the sound development of animal production. Feed resources are in shortage. More than 70% of the soya bean and fishmeal are imported, and the supply of such energy feed ingredients as maize is less than the demand. Restricted by the availability of arable and pasture land, livestock production scaling-up is making slow progress. In some areas, the environmental impact of livestock production has been included as an indicator within the 12th Five-Year Plan, and in some areas, measures have been introduced to ban or restrict animal production. Given the environmental constraints and the firm growth of demand for livestock products, it is very difficult to ensure the stable supply of animal products. Most facilities of backyard farmers are still backward and unproductive, and the investment costs for improving farming conditions are increasing greatly. It costs over RMB 10 million to build a pig farm with the capacity of 10 000 pigs, twice that of 5 years ago. Moreover, the high threshold for improvement, high interest rates and small quota for livestock loans restrict financing of enterprises. China has basically eliminated poverty and hunger. Consumers are increasingly concerned about quality and food safety. Multiple links in the livestock production and supply chain give rise to quality and safety risks and make the promotion of safety assurance challenging. Approximately 40% of pigs, 55% of cows, and 75% of beef cattle and meat producing sheep in China are raised by backyard farmers. This results in fluctuating production as small-scale farmers frequently shift from one animal species to another or abandon rural livelihood altogether. Chinese animal production lacks international competitiveness, and especially the dairy sector is subject to high impact of importation. Feed, labour and other costs show strong increases in recent years. The average national price of maize has risen by 45% since 2009, and the purchasing costs of pigs, egg layers and cows by more than 30%. Relatively speaking, agriculture generates poor income. Raising 20 pigs may not bring as much as income as work for a month. During the three decades of economic growth since the reform and opening-up, food consumption has undergone considerable changes, of which the most notable is the increased consumption of livestock products. In 2012, the annual meat consumption per capita reached 60.7 kg, higher than the world average, and egg consumption 21.1 kg, equivalent to the level in the developed countries and well above the world average, and milk consumption 27.7 kg, about a quarter of the world average (Pan 2011, J. China Food Industry 7, 25–28). In the last three decades, the cereal and potato consumption has reduced, while the consumption of livestock products has increased. In 1979, the meat consumption per capita was 17 kg among the urban people and grew with an annual rate of 2.8% up to 33 kg of 2003. In the same 25 years, the annual rate was 4.5% among the rural people. In general, Chinese meat consumption is made up of the afternoon and evening meals. Statistics show that people consume more meat while eating out rather than at home. The urban residents in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai eat 1.36 times more meat while eating out compared to that consumed at the home meals. The experts estimate that eating out currently accounts for 1/3 of the total meat consumption in large cities with the proportion continuously increasing. As richer people consume more meat, meat consumption will increase substantially in China with economic development and rising income. Now rural people with higher income consume more meat, milk and eggs. This implies that low- and middle-income rural people farmers cannot always afford buying such products. According to a survey, even in urban areas, the household purchasing of pork, beef, mutton, meat, eggs and milk increases with income. In this sense, the meat and livestock consumption of Chinese urban and rural inhabitants is in the growth stage. Pork is a traditional Chinese meat product. Prior to the 1980s, it accounted for approximately 80% of the total meat consumption. Along with economic development and income increase, the consumption of animal products shows diversification. In 1997, pork, beef, lamb and poultry took up 68, 8, 4 and 18.5%, respectively, and in 2006, 65.5, 8, 5 and 21%, respectively. In the near future, pork and poultry will continue to dominate meat consumption of urban and rural people, but the proportion of beef, mutton and milk will grow. Fish is also highly important and the aquaculture sector is expanding very fast. With a long history of animal domestication, China is one of the world's livestock domestication centres, and also one of the countries extremely rich in animal genetic resources. In the second National Survey on animal genetic resources over 2006–12, a total of 902 breeds were identified and validated, including 555 indigenous breeds, 160 new developed breeds and commercial lines, and 187 imported breeds. With the rapid growth of the livestock sector and intensification and scaling up of animal production, as well as the application of modern livestock breeding theories and methods, animal production has made an unprecedented improvement. However, the brilliant achievement is accompanied by a serious threat to the diversity of animal genetic resources. The diversity of animal genetic resources in China is facing a great challenge. According to the second National Survey, 279 indigenous breeds saw a decline, accounting for 54% of all the species, higher than the level of 42% in 2004. The survey found that 15 indigenous breeds have become extinct, 55 are endangered and 22 are on the edge of extinction. Animal species endangered and on the edge of extinction took up 14% of the total. The following is a brief introduction on two main species of China: pig and poultry. China has raised pigs for a long time and embraced a large number of indigenous breeds. The recent Survey found 88 indigenous pig breeds in China, one of the countries with the most abundant pig breeds. They are widely distributed, covering most of the provinces. Chinese indigenous pig breeds generally have three characteristics: Compared to the industrial pig breeds, the disadvantages of Chinese indigenous pigs are slow growth rate and high fat content. According to the second National Survey on animal genetic resources, approximately 85% of the indigenous pig breed groups have declined from the level in the 1980s. Thirty-one species have become endangered or are on the edge of extinction, and eight indigenous breeds have become extinct. Chinese indigenous poultry breeds have a wide range of fine traits, including good meat quality, high productivity and strong resistance. As the genetic base, the genes are of considerable value now and will be in the future. Due to the regional differences in the consumption habits of poultry products, the utilization of poultry genetic resources also varies. In the southern region with high requirement on the chicken flavour, yellow-feather chickens are therefore raised, mainly using Chinese indigenous chicken genetic resources. In the northern region with little special requirements on flavour, colour or shank colour, fast-growing broilers from abroad with a high feed conversion rate are raised. In terms of duck production, roasted ducks are mainly made from traditional Beijing ducks, and dried salted ducks and salted ducks are made from medium-sized sheldrake, such as Gaoyou duck and Jianchang duck. Foie gras is mainly made from Landes geese imported from abroad. Poultry resources are used in different ways due to the differences in consumption habits and traditional food culture.