title: Opportunities and challenges for smallholder pig production systems in a mountainous region of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China.
abstract: China's small-scale pig keepers are the largest community of pork producers worldwide. About 56 % of the world's pigs originate from such systems, each producing 2-5 head per year. This study analyzes pig smallholders in Xishuangbanna, a prefecture of Yunnan Province. Categorical principal component analysis and two-step cluster analysis were used to identify three main production systems: livestock-corn-based (LB; 41 %), rubber based (RB; 39 %), and pig based (PB; 20 %) systems. RB farms earn high income from rubber and fatten cross-bred pigs, often using purchased feeds. PB farms own similar-sized rubber plantations and raise pigs, with fodder mainly being cultivated and collected in the forest. LB farms grow corn, rice, and tea while also raising pigs, fed with collected and cultivated fodder as well. About one third of pigs were marketed (LB, 20 %; RB, 42 %; PB, 25 %), and local pig meat is highly appreciated in the nearby town. High mortality, low reproductive performance, and widespread malnourishment are the systems' main constraints. Basic training in hygiene and reproduction management could significantly increase production; most effective measures would be counterbalancing seasonal malnourishment and exploration of locally available protein feeds. Through support by external expertise, farmers could more effectively trade their pigs at lucrative town markets.
authors.affiliation: Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Steinstr 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Riedel
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schiborra
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huelsebusch
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huanming
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schlecht
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D009752:Nutritional Status; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012098:Reproduction; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000502:physiology*