December 4, 2013

Ukraine to adopt European technologies on pig production

Modern European technologies will be introduced to Ukraine pig producers which could substantially reduce the cost of pork production and increase the profitability of pig business in the country in coming years.

According to the director of the Ukraine Centre of efficiency in animal husbandry, Nikolai Babenko, because of the lack of innovative approaches to animal nutrition the pig market volumes in Ukraine has remained stable or even decreased in recent years.

"The global trend in recent years is the increase of feed prices. But globally this factor has not led to a decrease in the number of pig populations. In Ukraine, this factor has been considered as risky for the livestock business. A tonne of grain in Ukraine stands at UAH700-800 (US$84-96) which is cheaper than in the EU, where the farmers have to pay for Ukrainian corn also the 20% import duty," said Babenko.

He added that while the cost of compound feed for pigs in the EU is equivalent to UAH6-8 (US$0.7-0.9) per kilogramme (kg) of the live weight, and in Ukraine - UAH10-12 (US$1.2-1.4) per kg of live weight. This difference can be explained by the different approaches to the production of feed and feeding of animals.

However, he also said that Ukraine producers is actively studying the experience of the EU producers and during the coming years will adopt the foreign knowledge to improve the profitability in the pig industry.