5. The swine industry

Pork has become the second most important meat in Thai consumption, with average consumption in the late 1990s of about 4.7 kg per person per year. This consumption would have been much higher were it not for the government’s restrictive policies towards the slaughtering industry in the view of Siamwalla, Setboonsarng and Patamasiriwat (nd). They point out that the restrictions on the slaughtering industry also has disadvantaged the beef industry.

Development of pig production started in 1960 when the first group of exotic pig breeds were imported by the Department of Livestock Development from the United Kingdom. These were Large Whites, Tamworth and Berkshire breeds. Later, Landrace and Duroc Jersey breed pigs were imported from the United States. Up until these exotic breeds were introduced, farmers relied on the relatively slow growing native pigs that had the desirable quality of not needing much in the way of traded inputs. The imported pigs were used for breeding improvement and were cross bred with the native pigs (Kanto 1991). Throughout the 1960s and 1970, crossbred pigs were raised by backyard producers for consumption by the farm family and also as a source of income. Kehren and Tisdell (1996) point out that while pigs generated the largest value added in the livestock sector in 1975, the virtual stagnation of the industry up through the 1980s was to a large degree due to government intervention that discouraged private investment in the pig industry.

Sornnuwat (1994) says that swine production in Thailand follows a cycle, determined by the pig price. This can lead to boom-bust cycles of the type that occurred in the early 1980s. As a result of an oversupply of pigs in 1984 and 1985, pig raisers suffered heavy losses (Sornnuwat 1994). Heavy losses were expected again in 1987 had it not been for an outbreak of swine disease in the Central, Thailand’s main producing region (Table 5.1). This region has about 50 percent of Thailand’s pig population. The Southern has the smallest number of pigs, possibly reflecting the higher cost of pig fattening because of a shortage of feed in this region. An alternate explanation could be that the southern part of Thailand has a relatively high Muslim population for whom consuming pork is prohibited. Most of the pork produced in Thailand is consumed domestically because of the presence of foot and mouth disease in some of the producing areas in Thailand. Export markets are limited to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore. Finished (processed) pigmeat based products are more widely exported. Most of the industry’s output comes from small or medium sized farms as these dominate the industry (Table 5.1). According to Kanto (1991), modern swine feeding and management systems from western countries have been accepted by farmers.

Figure 5.1 Distribution of pigs by regions

Table 5.1 Numbers of holdings rearing swine, Thailand 1993

Source: National Statistics Office (1996a, 1996b, 1996c, 1996d)

Up until the mid 1980s, small intermediaries who were often the agents of large wholesalers collected their pig requirements by travelling from village to village, and then delivering the pigs to slaughterhouses. Some of the slaughterhouses were operating illegally (Kehren and Tisdell 1996). In recent years, the development of commercial pig raising farms has seen the role of the small intermediaries diminish in importance. Contract growing of pigs takes place with feed milling companies providing piglets, animal feed, veterinary services and farm management skills to contracted pig growers. This has opened the way for Thailand to increase exports of pork to other countries in the Asia Pacific region (Kehren and Tisdell 1996).