Kagoshima Berkshire
| Conservation status | FAO (2007): not at risk[1]: 71 |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Distribution | Kagoshima prefecture |
| Use | meat |
| Traits | |
| Skin colour | black |
| Hair | black |
| |
The Kagoshima Berkshire, Japanese: かごしま黒豚, is a Japanese breed of domestic pig found in Kagoshima prefecture in south-western Japan. It derives from the Berkshire breed of pig of the United Kingdom, which was imported to Japan from the 1860s and is now widespread there. The Kagoshima Berkshire apparently descends from two British Berkshire pigs brought to Japan in the 1930s.[2]: 629 [3] Meat from this breed may be marketed under the brand name "Kurobuta", meaning "black pig".[2]: 629 Pork from Kagoshima Berkshire pigs constitutes approximately 2% of the total annual production in Japan. The meat is considered tender and flavoursome; it is a premium product, in demand throughout the country.[2]: 629
History
Until about the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, meat was rarely eaten in Japan, for cultural, economic, and religious reasons.[4]: 2 British Berkshire pigs were imported to the former Kagoshima Domain, now Kagoshima Prefecture, from the 1860s onwards and are still numerous there.[2]: 629
The Kagoshima Berkshire is regarded as a distinct breed, and apparently descends from two British Berkshire pigs brought to the country in the 1930s.[2]: 629 [3] It is reared only in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan.[2]: 629 In the latter twentieth century, competition from productive foreign breeds led to a decline in production. In 1961 almost all the pigs in the prefecture, some 240000, were of the Kagoshima Berkshire breed; by 1965 the number had fallen to 213000, or about 83% of the total, and by 1975 to 12600, or 1.6% of the total pig population. Numbers have since increased; in 2000 there were over 278000 of the breed, constituting 13.6% of the total number of pigs in the prefecture.[2]: 629
In 2007 there were 215000 Kagoshima Berkshire; there were also some 330000 "English" Berkshire pigs in the whole country.[2]: 629
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ a b Breed data sheet: Kagoshima Berkshire / Japan (Pig). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2020.
- ^ Kiyoshi Namikawa (2016 [1992]). Breeding history of Japanese beef cattle and preservation of genetic resources as economic farm animals. Kyoto: Wagyu Registry Association. Accessed January 2017.
Further reading
- Yosuke Sasaki, Ryoko Uemura, Masuo Sueyoshi (2013). Reproductive and lifetime performances of Kagoshima Berkshire. Journal of Veterinary Epidemiology 17 (1): 26–27.
- Yosuke Sasaki, Tadaaki Tokunaga, Ryoko Uemura, Masuo Sueyoshi (2014). An assessment of reproductive and lifetime performances of Kagoshima Berkshire gilts and sows. Animal Science Journal 85 (3): 213–218.
- T. Ohkoda, K. Yoshida, A. Ohtsuka (2017). Approaches to raising the percentages of top-grade carcasses of Kagoshima Berkshire pigs by controlling backfat thickness. Japanese Journal of Swine Science 54 (4): 168–176.