December 26, 2007

Another pig farm relocates inland from China's Jiangxi Province

The largest pig breeding base around Poyang Lake moved from its site this week as part of Jiangxi province's move on environmental protection.

Wu Anlu, the owner of the pig breeding base is one of the first to his own pig farm.

The Zhenghua Pig Breeding Base in Nanchang County is located on an islet in the Poyang Lake. It opened with an investment of RMB4.8 million (US$655,000) in 2005. The farm recently turns out 40,000 pigs each year.

Jiangxi province has lately strengthened its resolve to tackle environmental problems caused by large-scale pig and fish breeding, thus the movement of pig breeding bases inland.

China's provincial environment monitoring body reported that the water quality of the Poyang Lake steadily declined from 2002 to 2006. Polluted water discharged from pig farms is a primary factor affecting the lake's water quality.

The provincial government has allocated RMB1.3 million (US$177,000) in subsidies to Wu Anlu to reestablish his pig farm inland.