Councilors suggest raising black pigs with bean dregs. Tao City Government: The central government has approved the pilot plan

Taoyuan City Councilor Li Baifang suggested raising black pigs with bean dregs, and Mayor Chang Shan-cheng responded that the central government has approved the test plan.

The dried tofu industry in Taoyuan Daxi has a long history. The daily output of bean dregs is about 600 metric tons, and the annual processing cost is about NT$500 million. During a parliamentary inquiry today, City Councilor Li Baifang believed that the policy of banning food waste pig raising will be implemented on New Year's Day next year. He suggested that the city promote feeding bean dregs and take the opportunity to transform Taoyuan black pigs into "golden black pigs". Mayor Zhang Shanzheng said that the Ministry of Agriculture has subsidized funds for a pilot project. The pilot project is still in progress, and the results of feeding are expected to be as early as the end of this year.

Zhang Shanzheng said that in response to the central government's policy to ban the feeding of kitchen waste to pigs starting next year, in order to preserve the Taoyuan black pig industry and guide Taoyuan black pig farmers in their transformation, the city government cooperated with the Pig Breeding Association to implement the "Taoyuan Black Pig Feeding Bean Okara Demonstration Project" at a black pig breeding farm in Yangmei District in May this year. They sought subsidies from the central government and have been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. The pilot project is still in progress, and it is expected that the results of the feeding results will be available as soon as the end of this year.

He said that through this project, he hopes to establish a basic feed formula for feeding iberico pigs with soybean okara. After the test is successful, it will also be used as a reference for other pig farms, introducing a new direction of recycling for the livestock industry.

Li Baofang said that there are about 110,000 pigs raised in Taoyuan, of which about 80% are traditional black pigs, the largest number in northern Taiwan. In the past, black pigs were mostly fed with food waste, and their flavor is more popular with consumers than white pigs that eat feed. However, with the ban on food waste coming next year, people from all walks of life are worried that the flavor of black pigs will no longer exist. Therefore, it is proposed to use bean dregs as feed, which can also implement circular economy and environmental sustainability.

Li Baifang said that as early as 2021, he suggested to the municipal government to use bean okara to add probiotics to ferment pigs. It not only increased the growth rate by 15%, but also reduced the feeding cost by 15%. The pork was also more tender and firm, and the texture was more beautiful. He was happy to see the city government start to promote pig raising with bean okara.