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Taiwan pig farmers to reduce production
Taiwan hog farmers are to reduce their December
production by roughly 20,000 head in an effort to boost falling pork prices on
the domestic market, an industry leader has said.
Agreement reachedPig farmers
reached an agreement with the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA), said
ROC Swine Association Chairman Pan Lien-chou. Among them, state-run Taiwan Sugar
Corp. alone will cut the number of the pigs it raises by 6,000, he added.
The local pig farming industry has been facing a difficult situation
because of sliding pork prices, which have fallen to about NT$5,700 (US$170) per
100 kilograms from NT$7,000 per 100 kilograms early this year due to higher feed
prices.
Sagging local economyWang Shun-li, head of
the Pingtung hog farming association attributed the declining pork prices to a
sagging local economy and the importation of foreign pork. He argued that pork
imports tainted with illegal chemical substances -- such as ractopamine and
melamine -- should be banned.
This follows from the fact that in
July 2007, two shipments of pork from the United States were found to contain
ractopamine, a drug that is used as a feed additive to promote leanness in pigs.
The addition of ractopamine, also known by the trade name Paylean, to pig feed
has been banned in Taiwan since 2006.
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