Specialty breeding needs cool-headed thinking amid the boom

In recent years, specialty breeding varieties such as wild boar, pheasant, partridge and meat dogs have made their way into China's rural areas one after another, showing certain economic benefits to some extent and bringing farmers no small amount of real gain. But in the face of the increasingly bustling specialty breeding industry, we should also think with a cool head.

    The particular nature of the specialty breeding market determines that it can only be a supplement to conventional breeding; within the entire livestock industry, specialty breeding occupies a relatively secondary position. But a common misconception among farmers is that specialty breeding is a shortcut to getting rich quickly, and coupled with excessive hype by some media, farmers eager to get rich can easily "go astray," rushing in droves whenever a new variety appears, introducing it blindly, and neglecting the timely acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills. Quite a few breeders also expand their scale through close-relative crossbreeding, causing breed degeneration. Not long ago, I interviewed several farmers in Laohu Town, Dongping County, Shandong Province, who had once raised mink and ostriches. Having personally experienced the "ups and downs" of specialty breeding, they said that in the early days of specialty breeding, because information was blocked, market forecasts could not be realized, and skills were inadequate, the risks were often very high, and sometimes it was not as quick to make money as raising chickens and ducks in large numbers. Since the 1990s, specialty breeding projects such as nutria, white snails, black ants, Jinding ducks and snails have caused many farmers to lose money.

    On the other hand, with the deepening of agricultural industrial structure adjustment and China's further opening to the international market, the specialty breeding industry will have more and more "money prospects." So, as a channel for increasing farmers' income, in developing specialty breeding, besides being cautious, what other issues should be noted? The suggestion put forward by industry insiders is: to engage in specialty breeding, one must first accurately read the market. "New, exotic and special" were originally the three major advantages of specialty breeding, but since the sudden outbreak of SARS in 2003, market fluctuations in specialty breeding have been obvious, and "new, exotic and special" have instead become stumbling blocks. Consumers' "revulsion" toward wild animals has greatly "shrunk" market demand. At this time, farmers need even more to have an awareness of market risk, to appropriately expand or reduce breeding scale, or to change breeding varieties to accurately grasp the market "pulse."

    Developing specialty breeding has long been regarded as a project that enriches the people. How to avoid risks and steer around the "reefs" is the key that farmers especially need to pay attention to. In view of the current state of specialty breeding development, I believe: for the development of this industry of specialty breeding, the government must in the future increase coordination efforts, strive to unite the entire industry, establish industry associations, and guide breeders onto the path of integrating production, processing and sales, so that this industry can develop in a healthier and more enduring way.