2015 Key Points for Animal Husbandry Work: Clearly Accelerate the Construction of Modern Animal Husbandry
In 2014, facing major challenges such as sluggish consumption of livestock products and the impact of human infection with H7N9 on the poultry industry, animal husbandry and veterinary departments at all levels earnestly implemented the spirit of the Central Document No. 1 and the Ministry of Agriculture Document No. 1, solidly carried out all work, and successfully completed the annual target tasks. It is expected that the total output of meat, eggs and milk for the whole year will reach 86 million tons, 28.6 million tons and 38.4 million tons respectively, and the total output of industrial feed will reach 195 million tons, achieving overall stable growth. The passing rate of feed product quality and hygiene indicator monitoring was 96.2%, the passing rate of routine monitoring for “lean meat powder” in livestock products was 99.8%, and the passing rate of melamine testing in raw milk remained at 100% for 5 consecutive years. No major quality and safety incidents occurred throughout the year, and the quality and safety level of livestock products remained stable and improving. The total output of fresh grass in natural grasslands for the whole year was 1.02 billion tons, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of grasslands was 53.6%, remaining at a relatively high level even when pastoral areas suffered severe summer and mid-summer droughts. The sustained and stable development of animal husbandry provided strong support for “stabilizing growth, adjusting structure, promoting reform, and benefiting the people's livelihood.”
At present, the agricultural and rural economy is undergoing profound changes. How to lead the new normal, the development of animal husbandry faces a series of new problems and challenges: the growth momentum of livestock product consumption is weakening, and the profit margin of livestock and poultry breeding is squeezed by both the downward shift of the price “ceiling” and the upward lift of the cost “floor”; the pressure on resources and the environment for the development of animal husbandry continues to increase, and the sharp reduction of breeding volume in traditional production areas with high breeding density has brought greater pressure on ensuring supply; urban and rural residents have increasingly higher requirements for the quality and safety of livestock products, various emergencies impact production and consumption, and non-traditional risk factors have increased significantly; the prices of major livestock products at home and abroad are severely inverted, and the momentum of increasing imports is difficult to reverse. Facing this series of realistic challenges, animal husbandry and veterinary departments at all levels must enhance their sense of hardship, strive to make progress, vigorously promote the construction of modern animal husbandry, and improve the competitiveness of livestock products.
2015 is a key year for the agricultural and rural economic development to serve as a link between past and future. The development of animal husbandry must closely focus on the target tasks of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture of “two do everything possible, two strive to ensure, and two continuously improve,” firmly seize the major opportunity of the new round of agricultural structural adjustment, adhere to the main line of adjusting structure and transforming mode, stabilizing production, improving quality and increasing efficiency, further enhance the comprehensive production capacity of livestock and poultry, strive to ensure the quality and safety of feed and livestock products, comprehensively strengthen grassland ecological protection, effectively accelerate the construction of modern animal husbandry, and strive to achieve the goals of animal husbandry “ensuring supply, ensuring safety, and ensuring ecology,” providing strong support for consolidating and developing the good situation of the agricultural and rural economy and maintaining stable economic and social development.
I. Overall Planning and Accelerating the Construction of Modern Animal Husbandry
1. Organize and convene a work conference on the construction of modern animal husbandry. Summarize and exchange the achievements and experience gained in the construction of modern animal husbandry, deeply analyze the situation and requirements faced by the development of animal husbandry in the new period, clarify the overall thinking and work priorities for accelerating the construction of modern animal husbandry in the coming period, and study and deploy work on promoting the structural adjustment of animal husbandry, improving quality and efficiency, promoting ecological and environmental protection, and improving the support system.
2. Do a good job in compiling the “13th Five-Year Plan” for animal husbandry. Organize and carry out special research, strengthen coordination and linkage, and comprehensively advance the compilation of key plans such as the National Pig Industry Development Plan (2016-2025), the National Herbivorous Animal Husbandry “13th Five-Year” Development Plan, and the National Feed Industry “13th Five-Year” Development Plan.
3. Vigorously promote standardized large-scale breeding of livestock and poultry. Increase the implementation of standardized large-scale breeding projects for pigs, dairy cows, beef cattle and mutton sheep, innovate the implementation methods of standardized livestock and poultry breeding projects, and accelerate the development of moderately large-scale breeding. Continue to carry out standardized demonstration creation activities for livestock and poultry breeding, strengthen the exchange and summary of experience, and further improve the radiation and driving effect of demonstration farms.
4. Accelerate the construction of modern livestock, poultry and forage seed industries. Implement genetic improvement plans for pigs, dairy cows, beef cattle, broilers and laying hens, study and formulate a mutton sheep improvement plan, and enhance independent breeding capacity. Strengthen the protection and development of livestock and poultry genetic resources, and compile the National “13th Five-Year” Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources. Continue to implement livestock and poultry improved breed projects, livestock and poultry improved breed subsidies, and breeding livestock and poultry quality and safety supervision and inspection projects to improve the supply capacity of improved livestock and poultry breeds. Strengthen the collection, preservation, cultivation and promotion of forage germplasm resources, and increase the coverage rate of improved forage varieties and the market share of self-bred forage seeds. Organize and implement comprehensive agricultural development projects for livestock and poultry improved breed breeding and forage seed breeding bases, and build a number of high-quality and stable-yield local characteristic livestock and poultry and forage improved breed breeding bases.
II. Combining Planting and Breeding to Accelerate the Adjustment of Industrial Structure
5. Stabilize the basic production capacity of livestock and poultry. In conjunction with the new round of agricultural structural adjustment, strengthen investigation and research on the supply and demand balance of livestock products, comprehensively consider factors such as production, consumption, imports and exports, and temporary reserves, reasonably determine the self-sufficiency level of various major livestock products, and clarify the priority order of development. Respect the basic role of the market in resource allocation, cooperate with the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments to carry out timely market early warning and comprehensive regulation, and promote the stable development of pig production. Comprehensively use policy means, technical means and information guidance service means to stabilize breeding livestock and poultry production, and strive to avoid drastic market fluctuations causing major ups and downs in production.
6. Vigorously develop the grass-based livestock industry. Summarize the development models of herbivorous animal husbandry, and study and formulate the “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Herbivorous Animal Husbandry.” Carry out experimental demonstrations of modern grass-based livestock development in agricultural areas, pastoral areas, reclamation areas, modern agricultural demonstration zones and rural reform pilot areas. Accelerate the implementation of the action to revitalize the dairy industry through alfalfa development and the action to advance modern grassland animal husbandry in the south. Continue to organize and implement the project to expand the herd of beef cattle base dams and enhance the basic production capacity of beef cattle. Accelerate the construction of a modern forage and feed industry system, further tap the potential of straw feed conversion, innovate demonstration models of straw-based livestock raising, and promote pilot projects of grain-to-feed conversion and planting-breeding integration models. Carry out pilot demonstrations for the promotion and application of silage-specific corn in Hebei, Heilongjiang, Shandong and Henan, 4 provinces, and expand the planting of high-quality forage such as silage corn and alfalfa. Organize research on the accounting methods and indicators of grass industry output value, and actively cooperate and coordinate to incorporate the grass industry into the national economic accounting system.
7. Guide and optimize the regional layout of animal husbandry. Organize and carry out major strategic research on the layout of advantageous regions for animal husbandry, scientifically determine the self-sufficiency level of major livestock products, and adjust and optimize the regional layout according to local conditions. Guide major animal husbandry production areas to do a good job in formulating the “13th Five-Year” plan for animal husbandry according to the region's resource endowments and production and sales conditions, guide and optimize the production layout of livestock products such as pigs, dairy cows, beef cattle and mutton sheep, and gradually promote the matching of livestock product production with the carrying capacity of resources and the environment and with the consumer market. Highlight regional comparative advantages, accelerate the cultivation of leading products and characteristic brands of animal husbandry with regional characteristics, and promote the formation of a number of animal husbandry brands with distinctive characteristics, marketable products and strong competitiveness.
8. Promote the sustainable development of animal husbandry. Carry out research on the land carrying capacity of animal husbandry development in different regions, and explore effective paths to promote the integration of agriculture and animal husbandry. Implement the “Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Pollution from Large-scale Livestock and Poultry Breeding,” combine with pilot projects for the comprehensive utilization of agricultural and rural waste such as livestock and poultry manure, strengthen guidance and services, and summarize and promote efficient and applicable models for comprehensive manure treatment and resource utilization.
9. Accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the dairy industry. Guide the development of moderately large-scale breeding, accelerate the transformation of dairy cow breeding communities into large-scale breeding farms, and explore ecological circular breeding models that combine planting and breeding and plant for the purpose of breeding, as well as development paths for the integration of planting, breeding and processing. Formulate management measures for dairy cow performance testing projects, guide and improve the application rate of performance testing results, and support the introduction of high-quality embryos and the cultivation of reserve breeding bulls. Organize and carry out dairy industry training to help pastures and dairy farmers improve their scientific feeding levels. Timely dispatch information on raw milk purchase and sales, and promote relevant departments to issue policies that protect the interests of dairy farmers and the basic production capacity of dairy cows.