Okinawa hosts international pork research conference, presents efforts to increase brand recognition for Agu Pork
November 28, 2019 Ryukyu Shimpo
The “5th Fatty Pig International Conference” (hosted by the International Pork Research Society), a research conference that presents existing international research results for pork, was held November 27 at the Okinawa Gender Equality Center Tiruru in Naha. Approximately 100 researchers and scholars attended the conference from a number of different countries to present their findings. The participants from Okinawa presented their efforts in preserving and popularizing of “Agu” pork, native to the Ryukyu archipelago.
Until this year, the conference has been hosted in a bi-annual rotation between Spain, home of Iberico pork, and Hungary, home of Mangalica pork, both globally recognized brands. This is the first time the conference has been hosted outside of these two countries, in recognition of Okinawa’s Agu pork production. A welcome reception was held at the Pacific Hotel Okinawa in Naha November 28.
The keynote speech was given by Satoshi Nakamura from the Okinawa Prefectural Livestock Office, where he spoke about the history of Agu pork, as well as their efforts to turn it into a recognized brand.
Yasushi Toyoshima, a researcher at the Okinawa Livestock Research Center, said gave a presentation on the “meat quality and hereditary characteristics of Okinawa Agu.” In research from the same center, they found that Agu had genetic similarities with pigs from China, and they concluded that the pigs’ ancestors came over from China about 600 years ago.
Additionally, there were presentations from researchers from other countries about increases in productivity, veterinary techniques, and processing and distribution techniques.
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
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