Conformity diagnosis to minimum standards of quality and detection of improvement points to increased productivity in pig farms

Abstract

The purpose of pig farming is to generate enough income for owners to meet their commitments, maintain the farm in a sustainable basis, reinvest in the business, and keep it growing. The production of quality pork can be a way to achieve these goals. The objective of this work was to evaluate the conformity of the minimum quality standards for pork of the pig farming in São Paulo state, Brazil, and to detect possible production obstacles to attain the certification seal. Data were collected from a certified property and compared to those of other 10 farms with certification potential. However, only 30% of the farms are close to achieving the total required items to attain the certification seal. The most critical items were the control of the final product and traceability. Therefore, even with a production of quality pork, the studied farms still show deficit for the two most critical items mentioned above. It should be noted that the diagnosis indicated the existent priorities, but investments are necessary to overcome the pointed out problems.