How to Build the Livestock Industry into a Pillar Industry in Rural Areas
In recent years, the livestock industry in Ezhou City, Hubei Province has developed rapidly. In 2014, 1.2014 million head of live pigs were marketed and 18.841 million head of poultry were raised; total meat output and poultry egg output reached 126,700 tons and 109,000 tons respectively, and the output value of the livestock industry reached 3.51 billion yuan. The livestock industry has become Ezhou City's most dynamic and fastest-growing pillar industry in rural areas. In the new historical period, we must follow General Secretary Xi's “Five New” requirements, plan scientifically, overcome difficulties, and actively explore industrial development paths suited to the region, so as to promote the sustained, healthy and rapid development of agriculture and the rural economy.
1. Implement technological innovation and tap new potential in raising production capacity. First, cultivate excellent pig breeds with independent intellectual property rights. In the coming years, Ezhou City should strengthen technical cooperation with the College of Animal Science and Technology and the College of Veterinary Medicine of Huazhong Agricultural University, rely on Dafeng Animal Husbandry Co., Ltd. to actively carry out a new round of selective breeding of Hubei White pigs, strive to reach or exceed the world's leading level in indicators such as pig adaptability, reproductive rate, feed conversion efficiency and meat quality, and gradually form a pig industry system led by Hubei White pigs. Second, build the Academician and Expert Workstation of Hubei Xingde Agricultural Cooperative to a high standard, injecting vitality into industrial development. Third, accelerate research and development of feeding and management techniques for local specialty livestock and poultry. Relevant experts and professors in related fields should be organized into technical teams to promptly formulate technical regulations for the feeding, management and disease prevention and control of local livestock and poultry breeds, with emphasis on establishing a complete set of operating standards in environmental control, feed nutrition, breed selection, and disease prevention and control, and promptly promoting and applying them.
⟦NL> 2. Develop ecological animal husbandry and open up new paths in optimizing the industrial structure. First, actively carry out manure and sewage treatment. A long-term mechanism for manure and sewage treatment should be established. In accordance with the principles of “determining livestock (poultry) numbers by land capacity, combining planting and breeding, local absorption, and scientific return to fields,” develop livestock and poultry farms and households, and focus on cultivating family pastures that combine planting and breeding, making family pastures a major growth point of the livestock industry. Second, vigorously develop grass-fed animal husbandry. Improve the cattle and sheep breeding system, actively support large-scale grass-fed livestock and poultry farmers, and raise the proportion of grass-fed livestock and poultry in the livestock industry to above 15%. Third, boldly explore development models combining forestry and animal husbandry. Relying on modern science and technology, give full play to the advantages of abundant mountain forest resources, and vigorously promote forestry-livestock integration models such as “forest—grass—chicken” and “forest—grass—livestock.”
3. Strengthen facility construction and seek new breakthroughs in transforming the development mode. First, raise livestock and poultry farms' awareness of facility-based animal husbandry. Increase publicity for facility-based animal husbandry and create an atmosphere for its construction. Second, accelerate the upgrading and transformation of traditional livestock and poultry farms. Strengthen the renovation of existing livestock and poultry farms, increase the allocation of environmental control systems, automatic feeding systems, manure and sewage treatment systems and other equipment and facilities, and require farms with poor environments, high energy consumption and heavy pollution to close within a set time limit. Third, build a number of modern livestock and poultry farms to a high standard, fundamentally transforming the development mode of the livestock industry.
4. Optimize training methods and achieve new results in increasing farmers' incomes. First, implement a system of working with certificates. Train all livestock industry operators and practitioners and issue practice certificates. Second, carry out segmented training, providing specialized training for different positions such as sow breeders, pig nursery staff, chick brooding staff and animal epidemic prevention workers, so that livestock and poultry feeding work shifts from “extensive” to “refined.” Third, promote barrier-free farming, minimize the “entry threshold” for livestock and poultry breeding, and help social practitioners shift from “afraid to raise” to “daring to raise.”
5. Accelerate community construction and take new steps in building rural communities. First, scientific planning. Ensure that livestock industry development matches community construction and coordinates with environmental protection, preventing low-level construction. Second, promote “four-level joint creation.” In accordance with the “five modernizations” requirements (improved breeds, facility-based farming, institutionalized epidemic prevention, standardized management, and harmless manure and sewage treatment), create standardized livestock and poultry “four-level” demonstration farms (ministerial, provincial, municipal and district levels) throughout the city. Third, increase project investment.