This innovative collection opens a door into the rich history of animals in China. This title is also available as Open Access.

China's population accounts for about 22 per cent of the world's total population, but the country has only seven per cent of global farmland. In order to ensure a sufficient food supply to feed its population, the Chinese government has explored the use of non-traditional feed resources. This publication looks at China's national programme (APCR) to establish an animal production system based on the use of crop residues such as wheat and rice straw, abundant and widely spread fodder resources, rather than using the grain supply. Over the last decade, this programme has been expanded to cover the rearing of beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats and buffalo; and has been regarded as the turning point to resolve the nation's feed problem.

A bried introduction to China and its animal industry; Some economics of animal production; Swine production; Cattle and buffalo production; Sheep and goat production; Utilization of animal products; Animal breeding and genetics; Nutrition research; Animal health; A look to the future: China's animal industry.

China is one of the world's largest developing agricultural countries and dominates the international livestock revolution in terms of its aggregate size and growth rate. While the sheep meat industry is still in the early stages of development, it is an excellent example of the upheaval taking place in Chinese agriculture. This book focuses on the growing sheep meat industry while drawing on associated research from other areas of the Chinese livestock section. Using this research, the authors use the sheep meat industry case study to illustrate the broader trends that apply more generally to the Chinese livestock sector, especially in the case of ruminant livestock.

"From the viewpoint of resource economics, the authors describe important characteristics of every facet of animal husbandry and analyze and project the demands and supply of feeds, the most important raw materials for livestock production for the next 30 years"--Foreword.