January 14, 2009
ACMC ships 600 genetically-advanced breeding pigs to Cambodia
British pig-breeding company ACMC Ltd. has shipped out its first shipment of 600 genetically-advanced breeding pigs to Cambodia.
The shipment is part of a 20-year franchise agreement in a deal clinched by ACMC.
It is believed to be the first time ever that Cambodia has imported genetics from Britain with an initial order worth almost GBP1 million (US$1.4 million).
ACMC's special Meidam, Volante damlines and Vantage sirelines, plus boars representing all three breeds, have been sent to a new unit specially set up on a five-hectare site to house a nucleus herd, in the Prey Nop district of Sihanoukville city, in the western Cambodia.
The GBP3.3 million (US$4.8 million) self-contained breeding unit will eventually supply enough commercial AC1 sows to produce 1.1 million slaughter pigs annually.
The project will also involve a feed-milling operation with a projected output of 330,000 tonnes a year and a processing plant to produce 'Premium Quality Pork' for the Cambodian population, projected to grow from 13 million to 16 million by 2015.
Cambodia currently imports between 2,000 pigs daily from neighbouring countries, principally Thailand, to meet domestic demand is urgently seeking to increase indigenous output through an education project which aims to improve production methods and health standards together with the use of improved stock.
