In China, pork is the most eaten meat of the people, and it is one of the most important contents in the basket. It directly affects the Consumer Price Index. Recently, pork prices have risen very quickly, sparking heated discussions among public opinion. There are some claims that directly blame the responsibility for the environmental protection department. We have different opinions on this matter.

The direct cause of high pork prices is the reduction in supply.

The reduction in supply is directly related to the African swine fever that has swept China since last year.

We have done counterevidence. What would happen if the environmental protection department did not intervene and allowed large-scale enterprises to raise pigs without restrictions on an industrial scale?

First, let's compare individual farmers and large-scale farms. Large-scale industrialization and low-cost expansion of pig-farming will lead to a decline in the price of pork, leading to a large-scale reduction in the individual pig market. Under this comprehensive effect of swine fever, large-scale centralized pig raising will increase the degree of disease and death of pigs, and it will not reduce the negative impact of swine fever and will eventually increase the negative impact of swine fever.

Second, improving environmental requirements is an effective measure to reduce and avoid swine fever.

Third, if there is no environmental requirement, the epidemic will be more serious. If all kinds of ecologically sensitive areas are added to be able to raise pigs, especially in the water source, the breeding of pigs will be carried out in large quantities. So, what will the consequences be today? Can you keep your drinking water safe? Without these effective measures for the environment, we are afraid that the epidemic and pollution will have a greater impact on people's lives, and the price of pork may be more expensive.

It is precise because of environmental initiatives that today's epidemic is not so powerful. So, don't put environmental protection against raising pigs. If there is no environmental protection, the situation is likely to be even worse.

When we talk about "pig", this is not a single concept. The word "pig" contains a number of different species, in other words, rich genetic resources and biodiversity. There are many local pig breeds in China, nearly 90 species. However, these genetic resources are lost very quickly. On page 419 of the "China's Biodiversity: A Country Study" published last year, it talked about the multi-faceted resistance of local breeds of Chinese livestock, and the frequency of hereditary harmful traits in the population is relatively low. "There are some shapes in the European and American livestock population that are caused by lethal, semi-lethal or other harmful genes, and other harmful traits that are genetically restricted. The frequency in China's inherent livestock population is relatively low or not at all." The dramatic decline in the biodiversity of pigs and the rapid disappearance of local pig breed resources mean that the entire population faces significant risks in the face of large-scale epidemics.

How can we reduce the incidence of African swine fever? Measures on environmental protection should be strengthened. For example, our current “ecological environmental protection” has few laws on strengthening biodiversity conservation. If there is a Biodiversity Conservation Law, how we guarantee the biodiversity of agriculture and food and ensure the diversity of pig germplasm resources, the population that is susceptible to infection will effectively decline.

Therefore, the problem of African swine fever and the high price of pork have once again emphasized to us that we must seriously study the thought on ecological civilization, strengthen the construction of environmental laws, and strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws so as to ensure the well-being of people’s lives as well as the relative stability of pork prices.

(Photo credit: CBCGDF)

Original Chinese artcle:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/9844.html

By / Wang Yanqing Modified / Niu Jingmei