Kiotechagil sponsored pig production seminars in Chinese
Kiotechagil China, a subsidiary of Kiotech International plc has sponsored a series of pig production seminars around China assisting the Chinese in improving the feeding efficiency and biosecurity on their farms.
Murray Hyden, director of biosecurity at Kiotechagil UK presented an overview of specific organic acid preparations, prebiotics and active carrier systems available to optimise intestinal health targeted mainly at weaning pigs.
Dr Carsten Pedersen, independent nutrition consultant for the European livestock industry provided a thorough overview of pig production in Europe before going on to discuss production results from both the UK and Denmark.
China is the biggest pig and pork producing country in the world, accounting for more than 50% of the world’s pigs. With a growth forecast of 3% this year China will produce a massive 51.5million metric tonnes of pig meat in 2011 – more than double the entire EU forecast.
“China is a hugely important market for us,” said Kiotechagil’s Murray Hyden. “Our company has recently completed a number of product registrations for products formulated specifically for pig production. These can enhance the health and wellbeing of the pigs in China and help improve the number of weaned piglets per sow produced per year.”
Dr Pedersen described the effect of the 2006 antibiotic ban in the EU and discussed the experimental work undertaken to find alternatives capable of maintaining health and performance of the pigs including welfare, feeding systems and feed additive products.
Data presented by Dr Pedersen showed that UK producers average 23 weaned piglets per sow compared with 29 in Denmark while China is averaging 17 weaned piglets a year.
“China, unlike the EU, currently has heavy antibiotic consumption,” said Murray Hyden. “In our seminars we showed the results from many independent trials comparing and highlighting the effectiveness and benefits of using essential oils, enzymes, prebiotics, probiotics and protected organic acids as alternatives to antibiotics.”
The seminars were held in Xiao Shan, Guang Zhou, Yichun and Zhang Shu. A visit was also made to a new government sponsored 2000 sow farm currently under construction.
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