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

Dissertation (MSc (Agric) Animal Science: Livestock Production)--University of Pretoria, 2022.

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Other Authors: Van Marle-Koster, Este
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Van Marle-Koster, Este
author_browse Van Marle-Koster, Este
author_facet Van Marle-Koster, Este
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc (Agric) Animal Science: Livestock Production)--University of Pretoria, 2022.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89445
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:29.922Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/89445 Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa Van Marle-Koster, Este kayleigh.marcus@outlook.com Marcus, Kayleigh Sarah UCTD Livestock production Small holder farming Pig farming North West Province South Africa Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02 Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-08 Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12 Dissertation (MSc (Agric) Animal Science: Livestock Production)--University of Pretoria, 2022. 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. South African Pork Producers Organization (SAPPO). bs2026 Animal and Wildlife Sciences MSc (Agric) Animal Science: Livestock Production Unrestricted SDG-02: Zero hunger SDG-08: Decent work and economic growth SDG-12: Responsible consumption and production 2023-02-13T12:51:30Z 2023-02-13T12:51:30Z 2023-05-16 2022 Dissertation * A2023 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89445 10.25403/UPresearchdata.22058948 en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Livestock production
Small holder farming
Pig farming
North West Province
South Africa
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-08
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12
Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title_full Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title_fullStr Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title_short Production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the North West province of South Africa
title_sort production analysis of commercial and small holder pig farmers in the north west province of south africa
topic UCTD
Livestock production
Small holder farming
Pig farming
North West Province
South Africa
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-02
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-08
Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-12
url https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/89445