2016 China animal husbandry intelligence development strategy forum opens

By CnAgri2016-12-15 09:39:51 Print The 2016 China husbandry intelligence development strategy forum, which was organized by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China (BI) and the College of Veterinary Medicine of China Agricultural University jointly, was held on November 26 in Beijing.
The forum invited officials, leaders of veterinary research institutes and experts in the animal husbandry field, which included Liu Xiufan and Shen Jianzhong, members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the vice president of BI Stephan Lange.

Stephan Lange, the vice President of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China Photo: Courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China
Themed Intelligence Leads Innovation, the forum combined the development tendency of Chinese animal husbandry to discuss the talent development strategy from aspects of policy direction, technology innovation and university-enterprise cooperation.
Wang Junxun, the deputy director of Animal Husbandry Department at theMinistry of Agriculture, said that China's animal husbandry targets supply side structural reform and accelerates promotion of modern animal husbandry. "We must spend efforts in structural adjustment of animal husbandry, standardized scale farming, sustainable development, forage production, animal husbandry inputs safety and further development of livestock and poultry breeding," he said.
Chinese animal husbandry still has a long way to go. The lack of talents can be regarded as a constraint, especially in the veterinarian field, said Chen Weisheng, the general director of China Animal Disease Control Center. He explained that veterinary services and staff professionalism need to be improved. The amount of public veterinary stations had reduced gradually, from 45,000 in 1999 to 32,000 in 2014. The amount of staff in veterinary stations was reduced from 250,000 in 1999 to 140,000 in 2014, and their education level is mainly middle school. Also, the commercial veterinary services still need further development.
He thought the major problem lies in the lack of a market-oriented service system and an intact laws and regulations system.
As the theme of the seminar, the heated discussion on talent cultivation reflected the eagerness of the industry for talents.
"With the rapid development of animal husbandry in China, we need more experienced, capable and enthusiastic veterinary professionals," said Lange. "Our goal is to help Chinese farms to produce better and safer animal products. Therefore, we have established scholarships in 12 Chinese universities to encourage good veterinary students."
Since 2006, 553 students have been awarded. BI wants to help them improve their professional level. Meanwhile, the company also strives to strengthen cooperation between schools and enterprises to breed more talents for the industry.
"We should provide individualized education according to social and industry needs instead of setting uniform standards," said the secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute Zhang Yongguang.
The award ceremony of 2016 BI scholarship was held during the seminar. Sixty students from China Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute and Yangzhou University were awarded.

Students from China Agricultural University receive scholarship. Photo: Courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China