ACORNS AND CHESTNUTS AS IMPORTANT COMMODITIES IN ORGANIC PIG FARMING

Title

ACORNS AND CHESTNUTS AS IMPORTANT COMMODITIES IN ORGANIC PIG FARMING

Research in pig breeding - Institute of Animal Science, Prague Uhrineves, Czech Republic

Creator

J. Belkova

E. Vaclavkova

M. Rozkot

S. Kucharova

Subject

Acorn

Chestnuts

Nutritional value

Organic farming

Pig nutrition

Date

2017

uri

http://www.respigbreed.cz/2017/1/1.pdf

Abstract

Recent years have seen an increasing trend toward organic pig farming within the Czech Republic and
many other countries. One impetus for this development is probably a shifting orientation among
consumers from product price to product quality accompanied by growing interest in organic quality meat.
Another important factor is the effort to create more humane conditions for farmed animals and to meet
welfare requirements. Last but not least, such farming methods are also more environmentally friendly and
support transforming agriculture and food systems to sustainability. The essence of organic farming is a
return to nature and historic tradition. For pigs, this means pasture farming systems based on collecting
such foods as acorns and chestnuts. In some regions, these farming methods have been maintained as
ancient traditions and are still used to this day. In many other places, including the Czech Republic,
however, these methods represent a return to a forgotten tradition. We have decided to determine the
nutritional value of chestnuts and acorns occurring in the local environment. This information is
instrumental in optimizing feeding rations for pigs reared through alternative methods as well as evaluating
the effects these feeds have on the quality of meat produced.

volume

11

Language

en