Development impacts on beef and mutton production from the pastoral and agro-pastoral systems in China and the economic and cultural factors that influence it

摘要

Many factors (some are beyond human control) influence livestock production in the pastoral regions of China. In the study, we analyzed the influence of a rapidly growing economy, the investment policy frameworks in place, and the interplay between ecology, sociology and economy on beef and mutton production in pastoral and agro-pastoral land in China. Production in the more humid crop lands, where feedstuffs are readily available, has shifted the production focus to eastern and southern China. Livestock production in the drier pastoral and agro-pastoral zone has increased too at the expense of accelerated rangeland degradation. The paper reviews the development of beef and mutton production in pastoral and the agro-pastoral land in China (1980 – 2012). We analyze the impact of economic development, urbanization policy and the rapidly rising demand for red meat created by the emerging middle class, national policy directives, and labor availability, against a backdrop of climate change and rangeland resource degradation. We summarize the challenges faced and prospects for beef and mutton production in pastoral and the agro-pastoral land in China