|
Venezuela Livestock
The country's livestock industries accounted for nearly
a
third of all output in the agricultural sector and met the
nation's basic meat consumption needs. The pork and
poultry
industries fared well during the 1980s, while the beef and
dairy
industries struggled. The cattle industry, a mainstay of
Venezuela's central plains for centuries, failed to
modernize
along with the pork and poultry industries during the
1970s and
1980s. The low prices paid by the government, combined
with
producer export taxes, hurt cattle ranchers, who did not
export
for several years during the 1980s. Both cattle ranchers
and
dairy farmers were unable to maximize production. The
government
sought to intervene in the case of the dairy industry,
providing
various levels of subsidies, especially for consumers.
These
policies proved unsuccessful, however, and did more to
promote
corruption in milk distribution than efficiency in
production. By
1990 the country was only 40 percent self-sufficient in
milk.
Many of the subsidies were likely targets of
market-oriented
reforms in the early 1990s.
The poultry and pork industries succeeded in bringing
more
modern production techniques to Venezuela beginning in the
1970s.
Some 2.5 million pigs were slaughtered in 1988, up from
1.7
million in 1980. The poultry industry also increased
production,
from 156 million broilers in 1980 to 251 million in 1988.
The
country exported modest amounts of poultry in the
mid-1980s. Both
the pork and poultry industries, however, faced increased
costs
after 1989 as a result of the exchange rate liberalization
that
raised the cost of imported feeds.
Data as of December 1990
|
