Ｔｈｅ　Ｐｉｇ　Ｂｒｅｅｄｉｎｇ　Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ　Ｂｅｎｅｆｉｔｓ　Ａｎｈｕｉ　Ｆａｒｍｅｒｓ.docVIP

Ｔｈｅ　Ｐｉｇ　Ｂｒｅｅｄｉｎｇ　Ｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｙ　Ｂｅｎｅｆｉｔｓ　Ａｎｈｕｉ　Ｆａｒｍｅｒｓ 　　DEVELOPING a modern stockbreeding industry is quickly becoming a sure path to prosperity for thousands of Chinese farmers in Anhui Province. Located in the hinterlands of east China, Anhui specializes in raising livestock, especially pigs. In 2007, Anhui had 13.34 million live pigs on hand and sold 23.6 million pigs on the market. Pork output was 2.025 million tons, accounting for 62.5 percent of the province’s total meat production, making pig breeding the province’s leading sector of its animal husbandry industry. As prices have risen and supplies contracted over the past two years, pig breeding has become one of the principal means farmers have used to bolster their incomes. 　　 　　On October 9, 2007, the Anhui provincial government unveiled a plan to develop its pig industry ― Plan 462 ―designed as a way to implement a government directive entitled Opinions of the State Council on Promoting Live Pig Production and Stabilizing Market Supply. The following year, on March 31, 2008, a special mobilization meeting to implement Plan 462 was attended by officials and pig producers, highlighting the government’s determination to boost pork production. 　　 　　Opportunities Outweigh Challenges 　　 　　 　　Pig production forms a direct link between farmers’ incomes and the prices consumers pay at the counter. Most significantly, the abnormal hikes in the price of pork that began last year havehad a dramatic effect on the consumer price index (CPI), and have become a social issue. 　　According to Plan 462, by 2010 Anhui Province will produce 40 million pigs for the market, with the proportion of large-scale breeding increasing to 60 percent of the province’s total, and its large-scale processing capacity growing to 20 million pigs. That prediction is in line with a government policy to establish a long-term development mechanism for the rural pig industry as part of its drive to build a national base for pig production, pro