Beohringer gives scholarships to help animal docs

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China, a subsidiary of German pharmaceutical giant Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, plans to add more scholarships and teaching resources to its talent development projects in China’s animal husbandry sector.

The idea is to help the country compete with players in developed economies over the next five years.

As the animal husbandry industry has played an important role in helping secure food supplies and raising farmers’ incomes, the company has established various types of scholarships to encourage hardworking veterinary students. A total 553 students received awards between 2006 and 2016.

The scholarships cover outstanding academic achievements in subjects like stockbreeding, aquatic breeding, slaughter and processing, ecological environment protection, local variety resources exploitation, and forage grass and fodder development.

Stephan Lange, the company’s vice-president, said rising incomes and accelerating urbanization in China are driving demand for more diversified and convenient diets.

Higher income has also increased the consumption of protein-rich meats. Boehringer Ingelheim has discovered that Chinese consumers’ daily caloric intake, especially from proteins, has risen.

Take beef demand, for instance. China imported 295,721 metric tons of beef in the first six months of 2016, up 61 percent year-on-year, with a total value of $1.3 billion, up 48 percent year-onyear, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Indeed, food consumption is normally a clear indicator of a nation’s economic health and the size of its population. In China, meat consumption is rising, and people are eating a greater variety.

“We therefore want to help university undergraduates and postgraduates improve their professional abilities. Meanwhile, we can strengthen cooperation between schools and companies to bring talents to the industry,” he said.

The German company also partnered with China Agricultural University’s Veterinary College and jointly launched a talent development strategy forum for the animal husbandry sector in Beijing in November.

The initiative will further promote talent that can lead innovation in the development of China’s animal husbandry sector, in terms of policy direction, technology innovation and school-enterprise cooperation.

“Based on its annual output, China’s animal husbandry sector still has a long way to go to achieve its historic missions. The lack of skilled people can be regarded as a constraint, especially in the field of veterinarians,” said Chen Weisheng, general director of the Beijing-based China Animal Disease Control Center.

Chen said the profession of veterinary service is weak and the team quality needs to be further improved.

Owing to insufficient human resources, the number of public veterinary stations has fallen from 45,000 in 1999 to 32,000 in 2014. Station staff members have also been cut from 250,000 in 1999 to 140,000 in 2014, data from the center show.

Furthermore, the employees’ educational backgrounds were mainly limited to junior school and high school qualifications. Commercial service organizations had not developed much over the years.

“In terms of agricultural modernization, China is on an upward trajectory, especially in the meat production chain. Pork, chicken and beef are being produced increasingly using modern methods. Fewer animals are being raised in backyards, and more are in a modern feeding system,” said Ding Lixin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing.

Meanwhile, we can strengthen cooperation between schools and companies to bring skilled people to the industry.” Stephan Lange, vice-president of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health China