At the National Meeting on Establishment of Standardized Demonstration Farms for Livestock and Poultry Production held in Yichang, Hubei Province last week, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) stated that by 2015, the proportion of large-scale production of major animals would be raised by 10 to 15 percentage points and the number of standardised farms would account for 50 per cent of the total of large-scale farms; productivity of those standardized large-scale farms would be improved; the animal waste would be treated to reach the standards for discharge or utilized as a resource; and the quality and safety of animal products would be substantially upgraded.

To carry out the nationwide activity on establishment of standardised demonstration farms for livestock and poultry production launched by MOA early this year, the state has invested three billion yuan to support establishment and transformation of standardised pig and dairy cattle farms/farming areas and it has also allocated 500 million yuan of specialised funds to help the farms/farmers that apply standardised farming practices by offering rewards instead of subsidies.

All the local authorities have been working hard to develop this programme into an image or a brand through well-organised implementation, increased financial input, enhanced technical guidance and advocacy for active participation of farms/farmers, ushering in a new climax for development of standardised large-scale animal production. So far, MOA has release the first list of 1276 standardised demonstration farms and granted them the plates for such an honour.