The Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences has successfully cultivated a Z-type Beijing duck that possesses a high feed-turnover efficiency rate, low skin fat, good meat quality (including low meat fat) and a strong immune system, according to reports.
China is the world’s largest breeder of meat ducks; the stock of meat ducks in China was 1.525 billion in 2011, with 3.94 billion slaughtered, making up 80 percent of the global number of ducks sent to the slaughter. In addition, China’s duck market is significant; more than 3.5 billion ducks are consumed every year. However, because the local ducks are mostly high-fat type and have a low feed conversion ratio, none of them are suitable for processing food products. This causes many of China’s markets to turn to foreign companies for the fulfillment of their needs. For example, the British Cherry Valley Ducks Company produces 80 percent of ducks used in the Chinese market.
According to researcher Shui-sheng Hou, the Z-type duck’s birth may allow Chinese companies to more effectively compete with their foreign counterparts.
