Mangalica, the connoisseur’s pig

(Photo: Pixabay)

The pig sector has also been operating in a changing economic environment for years – he pointed out, mentioning, among other things, that last year there was a century-long drought, less corn was produced, which makes feed supply difficult. The pig sector is holding up even in the difficult economic conditions, in addition to the runaway input prices, the breeders had to reckon with falling prices at first, but the prices have now returned to their place, in the first two weeks of 2023, the producer price of slaughter pigs was HUF 814/kilogram in split hot weight on average – he said added the deputy state secretary.

He emphasized that the government supports the pig sector in order to stay on its feet and to have a stable output

As an example, he mentioned that pig breeders received a special subsidy for sows last year, and the level of animal welfare support was increased, and crisis management measures also apply to them. The deputy state secretary added that they have been jointly promoting the consumption of pork, including mangalica, with the Agricultural Marketing Center for years, and more than HUF 1.5 billion have been spent for this purpose since 2017.

Mangalica breeding became successful in three decades

Péter Tóth, the president of the National Association of Mangalica Breeders, said that about 200 families are engaged in mangalica breeding in Hungary, they are present in every corner of the country. Gergely Giczi, the deputy managing director of the Agrármarketing Centrum (AMC), said that mangalica breeders – starting almost from scratch – have been successful in the last 30 years, as evidenced by the 10,000 sows and 60,000 fattening mangalica herds. The breeders have achieved a significant supplier position and produce high value-added export products.

Increasing domestic consumption is an important goal, since the turnover of mangalica meat is still export-focused, currently the distribution is 60-40 in favor of export. The biggest buyer of mangalica is still Spain, but Romania, Singapore, Hong Kong and several Western European countries, such as Germany, France, England, are important partners – they wrote in the announcement. More information about the campaign is available on the website mangalica.amc.hu.

MTI