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Agricultural Training & Demonstration Center
The Agricultural Training and Demonstration Center is situated in Yangqu County, north of Taiyuan city, the provincial capital of Shanxi Province. The training
center was officially opened on October 28th, 2002 and consists of offices, classroom, dormitory and other facilities.
The center helps local farmers develop more efficient, long-term and commercially viable operations. It provides basic training in pig raising skills, and acts as
a low cost extension service for farmers. At present, there is nowhere for farmers to get accurate information on pig raising, or training on how manage a small-scale
operation or even how to improve their management skills. Many farmers have had no formal education. As a result, they are not trained to understand prevention, sanitation, recognition of diseases, breed improvement, feeding, or production planning,
all of which is needed in order to have a long-term commercially viable operation.
The services provided by the pig raising center include: At the center about 35 top quality sows of high genetic potential are bred to provide farmers with good stock. Currently, traditional and local breeds are not meeting market demands and need to be replaced. The local breeds produce too much fat and grow too slowly making it hard for the farmers to compete and/or make money. However, it is hard to obtain good breeds to replace the current stock. Our sow breeding unit provides farmers with affordable sows. Our breeding sows and boars were bought from TOPIGS, one of world’s largest pig breeding companies. Artificial Insemination Project In May 2004 we started a county wide Artificial Insemination Project. This paid service provides the sow holders with excellent boar-semen which produces excellent litters and lean meat slaughter pigs and is very popular. Farmers that have used our boars have been able to receive a 5% higher price when selling their piglets or slaughter pigs. Village Level Sow Placement Project The Village Sow Placement Project, begun in October of 2003, is designed to provide small-scale farmers with sows of higher genetic potential. In pig raising, the farmers are taking high risks against a low profit margin. To reduce these risks, the center 'sells' the sows to the farmers with a ‘money back guarantee’. If the sow does not meet the required standards or have disabilities, the center will replace the sow at no cost. Since introducing this method, our farmers have been able to ‘pay’ back their sows and have made money enabling them to pay their medical bills, schooling for children, etc. China has a long history in the development biogas digesters, however, this technology is not always available to those who need it or could use it. We have been able to introduce this Chinese technology to many local farmers who raise pigs. This technology results in many savings. For example, less use of expensive artificial fertilizers, no need to buy coal or gas for cooking and lighting and ultimately, less pollution. The vegetable program aims to provide and introduce new and better varieties of vegetable seeds. As a result these varieties can bring economic benefit to farmers. Due to lack of resources, we have not been able to expand the program and we are waiting for a expert in vegetable breeding to joins us in order to make this program a blessing to the farmers. |
Our Work > Agriculture
The majority of projects run from
the center are primarily focused on pig raising but the Ag center has also served as a place to run development projects and also as a resource and training
center for Chinese farmers and NGO workers in China. 
