ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Like cereal crops, animal husbandry is almost ubiquitous, with meadows and pastures occupying three times as much land as arable land. The geography of world animal husbandry is primarily determined by the distribution of livestock, the total number of which is approximately 4 billion heads. main role while breeding cattle, sheep and pigs.

The world number of cattle is 1300 million heads. The "top ten" countries in this indicator include both economically developed and developing countries.

Table 16. Top ten countries in the world by size of cattle population

However, the types of management in these countries are very different. Intensive dairy and meat-and-dairy animal husbandry is most common in the forest and forest-steppe zones of the temperate zone (USA, Russia, Ukraine, France). The content of livestock here is stall or pasture-stall. Beef cattle are bred mainly in the drier regions of the temperate and subtropical zones, where extensive pasture cattle breeding prevails (Brazil, Argentina, Mexico). In some areas of the USA, Argentina, Australia, large-scale commodity farms (ranches) arose - real "meat factories". As for India, the very large number of cattle in this country is primarily a consequence of the dogma of Hinduism, which prohibits the killing of "sacred cows"; livestock here is unproductive, low-bred.

Sheep breeding (1200 million heads) of meat and wool direction has become widespread within the temperate zone of Europe and North America. Sheep breeding of the fine-wool and semi-fine-wool direction is typical for the more arid regions of the South-Western and Central Asia, steppe and semi-desert regions of Australia, Argentina. Australia also holds the world championship in terms of the number of sheep (140 million heads).

Pig breeding (800 million heads) is the source of 2/5 of all meat products. More than half of the total number of pigs is in Asia, primarily in China (400 million heads). It is followed by the United States, Brazil, Russia, Germany, and Spain by a very large margin.

Leading ideas: deepen and confirm the main provisions of topic 4 geography of the world economy.

Basic concepts:"upper and" lower floors"industries, commercial, consumer agriculture, plantation, farming, "green revolution", agribusiness, global transport system, regional transport system, port industrial complex, transport hubs, containerization.

Skills and abilities: be able to analyze and explain the nature of the location of sectors of the world economy, using knowledge of the factors and principles of location, technical and economic features of the industry, industries of international specialization; to systematize, compare and generalize according to the materials of the topic; characterize the industry according to the plan, characterize natural preconditions for the development of industry and Agriculture country (region) according to the plan.

As part of the world animal husbandry, four main sectors are usually distinguished (cattle breeding, pig breeding, sheep breeding (often with goat breeding) and poultry farming), as well as others (horse breeding, camel breeding, reindeer breeding and sericulture).

Cattle breeding is characterized by the most numerous livestock. Among the individual regions of the world, Asia, Latin America and Africa have the largest number of cattle (Table 9).

Table 9. Number of cattle in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

In addition to ordinary cows, zebu, watusi and buffalo are also bred here. In general, the productivity of pastoralism in developing countries is low. Cattle are in the main outbred, little meat and milk are obtained from them, and the herd serves rather as a measure of the wealth of its owner. Slightly better situation in countries Latin America(primarily in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico). So, although India traditionally stands out in terms of the total number of cattle (here, in addition to 219 million heads of cows, there are about 95 million heads of buffaloes), Brazil has its largest commercial herd. Herds of cattle in Europe and North America are not so numerous, but highly productive. Developed countries produce the bulk of the world's beef and cow's milk.

The level of intensity of cattle breeding can be judged by the type of agricultural enterprises prevailing in a particular country or part of it. Intensive dairy or beef (at the fattening stage) cattle breeding is typical mainly for small farms, and extensive beef cattle breeding is typical for large farms (ranches). The latter are common in countries with significant areas of natural pastures (USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina).

Pig breeding is most developed in China. The share of the USA, European and Latin American countries is traditionally large (Table 10).

Table 10. The number of pigs and sheep in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

The distribution of sheep and goat breeding in certain regions of the world generally resembles the distribution of cattle. Of the developing countries, China and other Asian countries have the most numerous herds of sheep (see Table 10), goats - India, Pakistan, Iran and African countries. However, these herds tend to be low-productive and produce very little wool, down, and meat. AT developed countries ah (Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and South Africa) the situation is different - the number of sheep here, on the contrary, is not so numerous, and the wool shear is very large.

The United States, China, India, Brazil and Indonesia have the most numerous livestock of poultry, horses - China, Mexico and Brazil, camels - countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa, reindeer - Russia, Canada, USA (Alaska) and the Scandinavian countries .

Table 11. Meat production in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

Most meat per capita is produced in New Zealand, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands. It is believed that a country is fully self-sufficient in meat if it produces at least 100 kg / person per year. Of course, the “quality” of the meat produced plays an important role. For example, the concept of "meat" in Russia and most developing countries includes not only meat itself, but also offal and lard. As for the structure of meat produced by types, the following situation is developing here. The share of beef is the largest in Argentina, India, Australia, Russia and Brazil, pork - in China, Germany and Spain, lamb - in New Zealand, Australia and India, poultry meat - in the USA, Great Britain, Mexico, Brazil and France (tab. 12, see Fig. 2).

Table 12. Structure of meat production by types, %, in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

The world's largest exporters of beef are Brazil, Australia, the USA and Canada, pork - Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and China, lamb - Australia, New Zealand and the UK, poultry meat - the USA, France, Brazil and the Netherlands. The most large-scale purchases of meat abroad are carried out by the USA, Japan, Russia and the countries of the European Union.

The world leaders in milk production are developed countries and some large developing countries (India, Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and Argentina) (Table 13).

Table 13. Milk production in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

* Including buffalo milk.

By the way, if in addition to cow's milk we also take into account buffalo milk, then India firmly takes the first place in the world (almost 40 million tons of buffalo milk are milked here every year). The largest number milk per capita is produced in New Zealand (about 3 tons), Denmark (over 1 ton), Lithuania (about 800 liters) and the Netherlands (almost 700 liters). The highest average milk yields (per cow) are typical for the USA (7100 l/year), Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland (about 7000 l/year). In specialized dairy farms in these countries, one cow on average produces at least 12,000 liters of milk per year. Average milk yields in developing countries, as a rule, are much lower (if Argentina has another 4000 liters, then in Brazil it is already 1800, and in China - 900).

Most butter is produced in India, USA, France, Pakistan, Germany, New Zealand, Russia and Poland. An unprecedentedly high level of butter production per capita (kg) is typical for New Zealand (almost 100), Ireland (about 40), Belgium (10), the Netherlands, Australia and France (8 - 9 each).

The United States, France (about 700 varieties of cheese), Germany, Italy and the Netherlands stand out for the production of cheese.

The largest exporters of powdered, concentrated, condensed milk, butter and cheese are New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium.

The largest producers of wool are traditionally Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay, Great Britain and South Africa. China rapidly increases wool shearing (Table 14).

Table 14. Wool production in the countries of the world (beginning of the 21st century)

Wool of fine-fleeced (Merino breeds) and semi-fine-fleeced sheep undoubtedly predominates in the sheared wool.

Companies that process (and often produce) various types of agricultural products are among the largest in the world. Universal companies predominate among them, i.e. covering several segments of the food market - "Mars", "United Brand", "General Foods", "Borden", "Pillsberry" and "Altris Troop" (until 2003 it was called "Philip Morris", produced tobacco products, subsequently expanded their specialization) (all - USA), Nestle (Switzerland), Unilever (Great Britain and the Netherlands).

Swift and Ermor (both US) specialize in meat processing, Kraftco, Beatrice Foods (both US), Danone (France), Ehrmann (Germany) and Campina ( Netherlands) - milk.

Standard Fruit & Steamship (USA) supplies fresh tropical fruits, Del Monte (USA) produces juices, compotes and jams from them, Coca-Cola and Pepsi (both - USA) specialize in the production of soft drinks and mineral water. Jacobe and Cibo (both Germany) process coffee, RJ Reynolds, Imperial Tobacco (both US), British American Tobacco (US and UK) and Japan Tobacco International (Japan) - tobacco. McDonald's and McChicken (both US) control the world's largest fast food chains.

Beef cattle breeding concentrated mainly in countries with arid climate, well-provided with natural pastures: the west of the USA, Mexico, the east of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Australia.

World cattle population in 2004 it was more than 1.4 billion heads. The largest countries in the world in terms of the number of cattle are:

1. India (more than 220 million heads);
2. Brazil (about 180 million heads);
3. China (more than 100 million heads).

The United States, Argentina, Russia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Australia and Colombia also have a large number of cattle.

Number of pigs in the world is about 1 billion head. The leading countries in the number of pigs are:

1. China (about 470 million heads);
2. USA (about 60 million heads);
3. Brazil (30 million heads).

Pig breeding also developed in Germany, Russia, Spain, Poland, Vietnam, India and France.

Pig farming gravitates towards areas of grain farming and potato growing, as well as to suburban areas. Due to religious prohibitions, pig breeding is practically non-existent in Islamic countries and in Israel.

General number of sheep in the world in early XXI century is more than 1 billion heads. The largest countries in terms of sheep population are:

1. China (more than 130 million heads);
2. Australia (more than 120 million heads);
3. India (about 60 million heads),

as well as Iran, New Zealand, UK, Turkey, Pakistan, South Africa and Sudan.

Despite the fact that China has surpassed Australia in the number of sheep and in the cost of production of sheep products (lamb and wool), Australia confidently maintains its leading position in the world. Sheep breeding in its distribution focuses mainly on mountain and dry pastures of steppes and semi-deserts.

More and more greater value in the world acquires poultry farming. China, the USA, Brazil, India, Japan, Russia, Mexico and European countries stand out with the largest poultry population and large-scale production of poultry products.

Almost 75% of meat and 85% of milk is produced by economically developed countries.

About 250 million tons are produced annually in the world meat. About 40% of the meat produced is pork, about a third is beef, 20% is poultry meat, and only 8% is other types of meat (mutton, goat meat, venison, horse meat, etc.). The largest meat producers in 2002 were:

1. China (about 70 million tons);
2. USA (more than 35 million tons);
3. Brazil (more than 12 million tons).

The countries of Western Europe (especially France and Germany), India, Russia, Canada and New Zealand also stand out.

Interestingly, the USA, Germany, France and Brazil specialize in the production beef, China and small countries of Western Europe - pork, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Argentina and Uruguay - lamb, USA, France and Brazil — poultry meat.

On this page, material on the topics:

• On the contour map of the country, the leaders in the number of cattle, pigs, sheep

Questions about this item:

Animal husbandry is the second most important branch of agriculture after crop production, providing the population with food, and industry with raw materials. Animal husbandry is closely related to crop production. The basis of animal husbandry is cattle breeding - cattle breeding. The world number of cattle is about 1.3 billion heads. This industry provides humanity with almost all milk and a third - with meat. Pastoralism is distributed relatively evenly across regions of the world, but the level of its productivity and specialization in different natural areas are not the same. In the forest and forest-steppe zones of the temperate zone, cattle are bred, mainly for dairy and meat. In suburban and other areas with high density The population is dominated by dairy cattle breeding. The content of animals here is mainly stall and pasture stall. In arid areas, where transhumance and nomadic cattle breeding is widespread, the meat direction prevails. Most of the livestock (almost 60%) is in developing countries. Pig farming is the main supplier of meat in the world. Nearly a billion pigs are raised annually. There are meat (bacon) and lard pig breeding. Meat pig breeding is more widespread. It develops in areas of potato growing and sugar beet growing. Pig farming is done in Europe, East Asia and America. China is the world leader in raising pigs. Sheep breeding is the third leading branch of animal husbandry, producing wool, astrakhan fur, sheepskin, meat, lard, and milk. This is one of the traditional and most extensive industries in agriculture. The annual number of sheep is about 1.2 billion heads. Several breeds of sheep are bred for different purposes. Australia and New Zealand have the largest number of sheep. There is meat-and-wool, wool, fat-tailed (fat-producing) sheep breeding. Among the wool, fine-fleeced, semi-fine-fleeced, karakul are distinguished. The highest quality wool is produced by fine-wool sheep breeding, which is developed in desert and semi-desert regions (China, Argentina, Iran, Uzbekistan). Particularly valuable karakul (skins of newborn sheep) are supplied by the countries of Central and Western Asia. Close to sheep breeding is the breeding of goats. It is mainly of local importance, with the exception of the breeding of Angora goats that produce mohair. Among the branches of animal husbandry, poultry farming is developing at a high pace. Large highly mechanized poultry farms are located not far from cities and grain regions. Birds are bred here for eggs and meat. Fishing is a very ancient craft of mankind. He is currently important industry world economy. In fresh waters, 1/10 of the world fish production is caught, the rest - in the oceans and seas. Fishing is developed in many states. But almost half of the world's fish catch comes from six countries: Japan, China, Russia, the USA, Chile, Peru. Due to the catastrophic reduction of commercial fish stocks in the oceans, humanity is moving from fishing to fish farming. This is not only fishing, but also fish breeding, increasing and improving the quality of fish stocks in natural reservoirs ( different types sturgeon, salmon, herring), as well as in special artificial reservoirs (bream, carp, crucian carp, silver carp, etc.). The most significant achievements in the cultivation of fish, the cultivation of other seafood in Japan. Camel breeding, horse breeding, reindeer breeding, silkworm breeding, rabbit breeding, beekeeping, and fur fur farming stand out among other branches of animal husbandry. They have a limited distribution. Unreasonable farming causes great harm to the nature of the Earth. For example, only one pig farm produces hundreds of tons of liquid waste, which significantly pollute water bodies. To increase soil fertility, agricultural land is irrigated or, conversely, drained, fertilized, etc. It is not always justified land improvement work that often irrevocably changes natural complexes. So, ill-conceived irrigation leads to soil salinization, excessive drainage causes accelerated land erosion and fires in peatlands. Findings: Animal husbandry, like crop production, provides the population with food, and industry - with raw materials. The main branches of animal husbandry are cattle breeding, pig breeding and sheep breeding. The result of imperfect agricultural practices is pollution environment and changing natural complexes.

animal husbandry of the world

Animal husbandry is the second main branch of world agriculture, comparable in importance to crop production, and in many countries and regions surpassing it. In the structure of this industry, it is customary to distinguish several sub-sectors: cattle breeding (cattle breeding), pigs, sheep, goats, buffaloes, horses, camels, deer, yaks, donkeys, mules, as well as poultry farming, beekeeping and sericulture.

Rice. 97. World livestock

Table 132

NUMBER OF THE MAIN CATTLE SPECIES IN THE WORLD AND IN ITS LARGE REGIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY

* Without CIS countries.

The main quantitative indicator by which the development of animal husbandry and its sub-sectors is usually judged is the number of livestock. The total world number of all types of livestock now reaches 4.5 billion, i.e., on average, there are one and a half head of livestock per two inhabitants of the Earth. Figure 97 gives an idea of ​​how this population is distributed among the three main types of livestock. The sizes of the livestock of other types of livestock are as follows: there are 800 million goats, 170 million buffaloes, 65 million horses, 45 million donkeys, and 20 million camels. and mules - 15 million heads. The global poultry population is an order of magnitude larger: it is 14-15 billion. The above figures are fairly stable, and if they change, then not so fast. Nevertheless, there is still a gradual reduction in the number of draft livestock (horses, buffaloes, donkeys, mules, camels). This is due to the mechanization of agriculture, which swept many developing countries during the era of the Green Revolution. At the same time, poultry farming is growing quite rapidly, and to a lesser extent, pig farming.

Statistics show that the distribution of livestock between developed and developing countries is formed with a significant preponderance of developing countries. The same conclusion can be reached from the analysis of data on major regions peace (Table 132).

Table 133

TOP TEN COUNTRIES BY CATTLE SIZE IN 2005

* Without buffalo - 222 million.

From the data in table 132 it follows that the largest livestock of both cattle, and sheep with goats, and pigs has overseas Asia(You can also add buffaloes, donkeys and mules to this list). Latin America and Africa follow this region in terms of total livestock size, while the regions of foreign Europe, North America, Australia and the CIS do not take the first place in any of the types of livestock included in the table.

Approximately the same picture emerges when looking at the distribution of the main types of livestock in the leading countries. This is evidenced by the data in Table 133 and Figure 98.

Table 133 shows that the top 10 countries in terms of cattle stock include eight developing countries, which also generally occupy the leading positions in it. And Figure 98 shows that although there are only eight developing countries in the top 20 pig populations, China alone accounts for half of the world's pig population. Of the 20 major sheep-producing countries in developing countries, 13. In the world poultry population, China also ranks first (more than 5 billion heads), Brazil and Indonesia are third and fourth (1.2 billion each), while the United States is in second place, and fifth – India. More than half of the world's poultry population is concentrated in these five countries.

But it's all pure. quantitative indicators, which are important and interesting, but do not reflect the efficiency, marketability, profitability of animal husbandry, methods of its management, relations with crop production, and many others important criteria. However, if we take into account these quality criteria, then the ratio between developed and developing countries will be completely different.

In the economically developed countries of the West, animal husbandry prevails over agriculture in terms of production value, and often quite significantly. In addition, agriculture itself is to a large extent focused on the needs of animal husbandry, or, as they say, works for it. This is expressed in the fact that it is agriculture that supplies for animal husbandry both fodder crops (corn, barley, oats), grasses (alfalfa, clover), and root crops (fodder beets, potatoes). Suffice it to say that in the United States about 1/2 of all agricultural land, and in Western Europe even 4/5 of them are related to animal husbandry. It is also impossible not to mention the high level of mechanization, electrification, and, more recently, the electronization and automation of many livestock-breeding processes. That is why animal husbandry in the Western countries, even with a more or less stable population, gives a significant increase in production, completely meeting their own needs and opening up opportunities for export.

Rice. 98, a. World number of pigs, million heads

Rice. 98b. World number of sheep, million heads

Of course, differences in natural conditions and labor skills of the population lead to the fact that animal husbandry in developed countries has different directions.

This is most clearly seen in the example of cattle breeding. Breeding of cattle can have a dairy specialization, in which the share of milk in livestock production exceeds 70%, which is especially typical for the northwestern part of Europe and the US Lake District. It may have a mixed dairy and meat specialization, the distribution area of ​​​​which is even wider. Both of these specializations are high level intensity: for example, the average annual milk yield in Western Europe is 5000-7000 kg, and in the USA - even 3500 kg. To an even greater extent, this applies to poultry and pig farming, which are especially drawn to suburban areas. In the United States, poultry farming is already almost completely, and in Western Europe it is almost completely industrial methods; this applies to both broiler chicken and egg production.

But in developed countries there are also very high-commodity livestock industries that are conducted not by intensive, but by extensive methods. First of all, this is typical for countries specializing in beef cattle breeding, such as the USA, Australia, and South Africa, where beef cattle are raised on vast natural pastures with very low labor intensity. This type of economy, found primarily in arid regions, is called cattle breeding on a ranch. Such ranches happen to have an area of ​​tens of thousands of hectares; however, then the young animals grown on them are sent for fattening to other grain-producing regions. Sheep breeding is carried out in extensive ways almost everywhere.

In contrast, livestock production in developing countries for the most part plays a secondary role and, moreover, has little to do with agriculture. It is carried out extensively, gives (except for plantations) a small yield of marketable products, and in its structure the main place is occupied by low-bred and draft cattle. A significant role in these countries is still played by the most extensive nomadic and semi-nomadic animal husbandry, which focuses on the use of scarce natural fodder resources and on the most unpretentious species livestock (camels, sheep, goats). However, extensive sheep breeding is also characteristic of a number of developed countries, for example, Australia. Of the individual areas of sheep breeding, the most widely represented in the world are fine-wool, developing in semi-desert and steppe regions (1/4 of the world's sheep population), and semi-fine-wool meat and wool in areas with better moisture and a milder climate (also about 1/4 of the world's livestock). The rest of the sheep population falls on coarse-wooled, meat-fat and karakul sheep breeding.

Along with this, in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America there is a relatively small group of countries for which it is animal husbandry that has become the main branch of agricultural specialization. Examples of such countries are Chad, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Botswana, Namibia in Africa, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina in South America, Mongolia, Afghanistan in Asia. Numerical indicators, especially per capita, related to these countries, sometimes turn out to be downright record-breaking. Uruguay, for example, has an average of 3,200 cattle per 1,000 inhabitants, while Botswana, Namibia, Paraguay, and Argentina have 1,700 cattle. In terms of the number of sheep per 1,000 inhabitants, Uruguay also stands out (8,200), second only to New Zealand (14,800!). In Mongolia, this figure is 6200, in Mauritania - 2200, in Namibia - 1800. But in terms of the number of pigs per 1000 people, the world record holder Denmark (2100) is followed by the small island states of Oceania - Tonga, Tuvalu, Western Samoa (1000-1500 ).

Rice. 99. Main livestock areas

In its most generalized form, with a subdivision into only two main types, the distribution of world animal husbandry is shown in Figure 99. M. B. Wolf and Yu. can be distributed as follows.

To first type include areas with a high density of both population and livestock (100–200 heads or more per 100 hectares of agricultural land), with high productivity of animal husbandry and its specialization in intensive sub-sectors: dairy cattle breeding, pig breeding, and poultry farming. AT foreign Europe the area of ​​the first type covers Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland, some other countries, in North America- Northeast USA. Animal husbandry in them will give 60-80% of all marketable agricultural products.

Co. second type include areas with an average level of intensity and productivity of agriculture. It also corresponds to the average (30–60 heads) density of livestock. Examples of this kind are the South and Eastern Europe, southern and central states of the USA, some areas in Latin America.

To third type include areas with a low density of both population and livestock (5-10 heads), with a predominance of the least intensive sub-sectors and directions of animal husbandry, extensive livestock keeping on vast natural pastures and relatively low productivity. Examples of this kind are: most of Australia, Patagonia in Argentina, Angola, some countries of West and North Africa (Mauritania, Chad, Algeria). As a rule, animal husbandry in them sharply prevails over crop production and serves as the main branch of the economy.

Finally, to fourth type include areas with a high population density, including rural, with a high density of livestock (60-200 heads), but with low productivity and the predominance of low-intensity sub-sectors and directions in animal husbandry. On the whole, animal husbandry plays a subordinate role in these regions and produces little marketable output. Examples of this kind are India, Sri Lanka, the countries of Southeast Asia. In developing countries, centers of low-productive animal husbandry are most often territorially separated from consumer and commercial crop production.

Russia as part of the USSR had a fairly developed animal husbandry. In the mid 1980s. the number of cattle in it was 60 million heads, pigs - about 40, sheep and goats - almost 65 million heads. However, in the 1990s First of all, due to the lack of feed, the livestock decreased several times - to 28.5 million heads, 17.5 million and 15.5 million heads, respectively, in 1998. The relatively low productivity of animal husbandry is evidenced, for example, by the fact that the average annual milk yield per cow is 3000 kg. Nevertheless, animal husbandry continues to be an important branch of the country's economy. In terms of output (in value terms), it is almost as good as crop production. The basis of animal husbandry in Russia is the breeding of cattle - dairy in the northern and central regions of the European part of the country, dairy and meat in most of its territory, and meat and dairy in steppe zone. In the second half of the 1990s. began to take measures to increase animal husbandry, but their implementation will require a considerable period of time.