Congress

Hangzhou is about 200 kilometers from Shanghai in a thriving region of China.  Agriculture in this area is mainly horticulture. Dairying is more situated in the northern provinces because of climate and  prevalence of the growing of food above animal production. Within animal production pig and poultry are currently much more important than milk but the milk consumption is growing: some expect the consumption per head to be doubled within a few years. The Dairy Expo aimed at both small farmers and large-scale dairy farms. Today milk consumption mainly concerns fresh milk, UHT-milk and desserts.

After two days we flew to Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, a region with a drier and less hot climate. Hohhot is called the dairy capital of China: the two biggest dairy companies of China, Mengniu and Yili, have their headquarters in this city. Around Hohhot we visited a so called “dairy district”. Within this new organizational form a number of small dairy farmers with less than 10 cows live together. Each family has a house and a small yard for the cows. Feed (maize stems as roughage and concentrates) is grown outside the dairy district. All cows are milked in a central milking parlour: the owner of the parlour is responsible for the quality of the milk. Quality is a big issue at the moment, particularly because of the melamine scandal. The government expects to control the quality of milk much better by this system of dairy districts instead of the former milking stations.

Not only milk quality is a point of attention. Feed quality, especially roughage, and management are also at a level where much improvement is possible. Labour is cheap and the education level is quite poor. However, Chinese people have a good labour attitude and are willing to learn.

On the other hand there are some big dairy farms of 5,000 or 10,000 cows, in the hands of private investors of dairy processors. The milking equipment is still American or European but other equipment is shifting from foreign to Chinese. Eastrock, the Chinese manufacturer of barn equipment, originates from Canada (Artex Barnsolutions) but now only produces in China. This company facilitated the days of the GDF-group in Inner Mongolia in co-operation with Dairy United (Hohhot) and organized also cultural events for the international guests.

The last part of the GDF-congress happened in Beijing, the capital of China. One day with interesting lectures and presentations about various aspects of dairy farming inside and outside China was followed by a day for GDF internally where the GDF-members played an interactive and valuable role. The results of these days will come out in some small articles, to be published at http://www.globaldairyfarmers.com/ and other relevant places. Also the days in Beijing had some cultural aspects (a theatre show), ending up in the final day with trips to the Tien-An-Men square, the Forbidden City, the Bird’s Nest (Olympic Games) and the Great Wall.

Dairying in China is still small, compared to other agricultural sectors. But both production and consumption are growing quite fast, although there is currently a regression because of the melamine affair and the economic situation. In the longer run there is a bright future for the dairy industry in China. There is much demand for foreign capital and foreign knowledge. GDF has contributed to the knowledge by the contacts with Chinese people and organizations but the GDF-network also has gained and still gains from the visit to China and mutual exchange during the different meetings in different forms.

Co Daatselaar, LEI Wageningen UR

http://www.agrocenter.wur.nl/NL/nieuws/nieuws/3rd_GDFcongress_in_the_Peoples_Republic_of_China_May_29thJune_4th.htm.
 
Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 June 2009 )