Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa

Abstract

There has been substantial growth in the small holder pig farming sector in South Africa. These farmers vary from market-orientated farmers to pig keepers with different available resources. There is a need to understand the requirements needed to close the gap between commercial and smallholder market-orientated farmers. There are limited scientific studies on the production and performance of smallholder pig farmers in South Africa. This study aimed to evaluate the production practices of smallholder pig farmers in the North west province using structured questionnaires. This study was conducted in two phases where firstly production data from six commercial farms representing small (<650 sows), medium (650 to 1200 sows) and large (>1200 sows) farms were analysed for production parameters; while phase two focused on smallholders in the North west province. In the commercial sector results indicated that small farms had a higher level of number born alive and piglet mortality due to being laid on by the sow (p-value <0.1). A significant difference was observed between farm sizes (small, medium and large) for number born alive in parities one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight (p-value <0.1). It was also found that there was a significant difference between the different sized farms for number of piglets weaned for parities one, four, seven and eight (p-value <0.1). Considering farm size for all production parameters, it was clear that management played an important role and large farms performed the best. Results from the 25 questionnaires indicated that the majority of the smallholder pig farmers utilized extensive pig housing most commonly built out of iron sheets, bricks and wire. Majority of the farmers were males and owned 0 to 20 sows, had 10 or less pigs in each production stage, had 1 or 2 boars and practices natural mating and the distance to the market was mainly 0 to 20km. The main constraints as stated by the farmers are lack of capital for housing, poor housing, high cost of feed, prevalence of diseases and hygiene and cost thereof. Stock theft was mentioned, while the areas for possible improvement were noted as genetics, housing and transport and management.