PhD Pig Farming Achieves Both Research Breakthroughs and Industry Development
Zhejiang Online, February 27 - Wang Yulong, a postdoctoral fellow at Tsinghua University, director of the Nanhu Green Livestock and Poultry Research and Development Center of the Zhejiang Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, and chairman of Jiaxing Wang Yulong Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., participated in world-leading biopharmaceutical research in his early years and has been engaged in research and development in the field of biological agricultural breeding in recent years. "PhD pig farming" initially drew mixed opinions, but he led his team through years of effort and finally achieved a major research breakthrough in the field of green farming.
Jiaxing, as a pig breeding base in Zhejiang, produces more than 6 million head of pigs annually, but most of it is traditional farming. Many feed dealers and farmers add large amounts of antibiotics, heavy metals and other substances to feed in order to accelerate livestock and poultry growth and prevent and treat diseases, resulting in large residues in the bodies of livestock and poultry. On the other hand, the manure and urine produced by pigs have brought serious water environmental pollution. Breeding wastewater is mostly treated by biogas fermentation and then discharged in the form of biogas slurry. Biogas slurry has the characteristics of "high COD, high ammonia nitrogen, and high phosphorus," and the resulting pollution has seriously affected the lives of local residents.
Faced with severe problems in pork food safety and breeding pollution, the Zhejiang Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute and the Nanhu District Government jointly established the "Nanhu Green Livestock and Poultry Research and Development Center of the Zhejiang Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute" in 2009. At this center, a returnee PhD named Wang Yulong led his innovation team to start with the development of "antibiotic-free, low-heavy-metal" green feed, striving to explore a new farming model that is food-safety-oriented, environmentally friendly, and flavor-enhancing, leading local farmers out of their breeding difficulties.
In response to pork food safety issues, the team pioneered "source control": using composite defensins to replace antibiotics, adding only the mineral amounts required for nutrition, and developing core premixes for green pig feed. While producing green "three-no" pork with "no antibiotic residues, no excessive heavy metals, and no added clenbuterol," they solved the problems of pork food safety and breeding pollution at the source.
In response to the problem of non-point source pollution from breeding, the team pioneered "end-of-pipe treatment": developing bacteria-algae biotechnology and establishing a resource recycling process of "pig - biogas slurry - pretreatment - algae primary purification - algae secondary purification - dual harvest of fish and algae - clean water." This ecological recycling treatment model is applicable to both intensive farming and centralized treatment for free-range households, solving the difficult problem of pollution treatment for farmers.
At present, the Nanhu Green Livestock and Poultry Research and Development Center has established a research and development model of "source control - process monitoring - end-of-pipe treatment," and has created an industrialization model of "green pork - specialty chain stores - brand management." On the basis of sufficient market research, the center chose to cooperate with Jiaxing's largest farmer, Jinhong Animal Husbandry, to carry out pilot green farming and sewage treatment, and the first batch of 2,000 pigs has been gradually sent to market. In addition, the experimental pond for breeding sewage treatment has been built and put into use. Covering about 400 sq m, the four circular treatment ponds with a diameter of 9 m each can treat a maximum of 15 tons of sewage per day. In 2011, the center registered the "Dr. Wang" trademark, and a "integration of science, industry, and trade" green farming model of "support from domestic and overseas scientific research + production base demonstration + direct-sale specialty chain stores in the market" is being established in Jiaxing.
Starting with "source control," the "three-no" safe green pork produced by Dr. Wang's team has been tested and reaches the Ministry of Agriculture's "Green Food Meat and Meat Products Standard" (NY/T843-2009); through "end-of-pipe treatment," Dr. Wang's team developed "bacteria-algae technology for treating biogas slurry," which meets the "Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Livestock and Poultry Breeding" (GB18596-2001), with a comprehensive waste utilization rate of more than 95% and a harmlessness rate of 100%, realizing the ecological cycle of the pig breeding process.
A relevant person in charge of the Nanhu District Agriculture and Economic Bureau said that for Nanhu District, which has a relatively large pig breeding volume, developing from traditional farming to ecological farming is the future direction of the pig industry. The green farming model created by Dr. Wang Yulong and his team not only ensures food safety but also solves the environmental pollution caused by breeding. It is very close to ecological farming and can be gradually promoted among large-scale farmers on a trial basis.