★ News--Department of Animal Science

The opening ceremony in the morning is presided by Lian Tu-Fa(left). Attendees and guests involve NCYU president Lee Ming-Jen(right); Xu Tian-Lai, director of Department of Animal Husbandry,Wu Chang-Xin, academician plus professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences... and so on.

9th Cross-Strait Quality Chicken Conference and Chicken Forum at NCYU

　　To enhance and promote the production and quality of “High-quality chickens”, more than four hundred experts, scholars and practitioners came from both sides of the Strait to join the “9th Cross-Strait Quality Chicken Conference and Chicken Forum” at the International Conference Hall, Lantan Campus, NCYU, on Oct. 31st. The event offers an occasion for idea exchange and cooperation by addressing such topics as how to improve the quality and production of high-quality chickens, and to develop the newly-introduced technology and outcomes.

　　The opening ceremony in the morning is presided by Lian Tu-Fa, chairman of World's Poultry Science Association in Taiwan plus professor from the Department of Animal Science, NCYU. Attendees and guests involve NCYU president Lee Ming-Jen; Xu Tian-Lai, director of Department of Animal Husbandry, Council of Agriculture; first president of the World's Poultry Science Association in Asia and the Pacific; Chen Bao-Ji, dean of College of Bioresources and Agriculture, NTU; Huang Chin-Jung, CEO of National Animal Industry Foundation; Chen Mu-Shi, chairman of Poultry Association Republic of China; Wu Chang-Xin, academician plus professor of Chinese Academy of Sciences; as well as Lo Suk-Ching and Chen Ru-Xu, chairman and vice-chairman of High-Quality Chicken Development Association in Hong Kong.

　　Prof. Lian Tu-Fa indicates in the opening address that it’s been the 20th year since the first Cross-Strait Quality Chicken Conference was held in 1989 in Hong Kong, and is one of the long-lived events has been taking place for cross-Strait exchanges. That NCYU is located in “Yunlin-Chiayi-Tainan region”, which is celebrated for the production of high-quality chickens, highlights its role as the venue for the Conference this year. High quality chickens are a chicken species native to Taiwan, Mainland and Hong Kong. The Conference is organized to protect the local poultry industry from unfair competition following participation in WTO, and to hone the competitiveness of high-quality chickens. Effective outcomes have been achieved in terms of enhancing the technology, production quality as well as economic benefits of high-quality chickens.

　　On behalf of the host university, NCYU President Lee Ming-Jen expresses his welcome to all the representative teams who come from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia. He said he once asked a few students if they prefer domestic high-quality chicken or the fried chicken nuggets sold by MacDonald’s. Their responses were unanimously the same “McNuggets”. Since it’s obvious that “foreign chickens” enjoy higher competitiveness than our local chickens, it’s necessary to follow the trend of economic development to promote high-quality chicken. He hopes, therefore, the High Quality Chicken Forum that involves elitists from both sides of the Strait can help create another economic miracle for the field of agricultural production.

　　The “Conference on High-Quality Chicken Improvement, Production and Development” takes place in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan alternatively on a biennial basis. Each time with a specific topic to be discussed, the 3rd and 6th Conferences were hosted respectively by National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) and National Taiwan University (NTU). This time, the 9th Conference will take place for two days in a row, from Oct. 31st to Nov. 1st. Guests invited to offer keynote speeches on the first day include Xu Tian-Lai, director of Department of Animal Husbandry, Council of Agriculture; Huang Guo-Qing, deputy director of Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine; and professors from China Agricultural University, Northeast Agricultural University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, NTU and NCHU.

　　The second day focuses on the topic of “bird flu prevention and healthy, high-quality chicken production”, which can be divided into five sections of paper presentations and discussions, including genetics and breeding, feeding management, physiology, processing and quality and poultry diseases. This Conference can be said to be the grandest gathering for the chicken industries from Chinese world.