ASSOCIATION OF THE PRODUCTION OF PIG MEAT WITH Renewable energy sources. OPTIMIZATION OF PRODUCTION COST.
The pig industry is a particularly important activity of the agricultural sector of the EU, it constitutes 11% of the European agricultural production (European Commission, 2003).In Greece, the pig industry is considered as a dynamic sectors of the rural economy as it contributes 30% of total meat production although it covers less than 25% of annual requirements in pigmeat. Since the 1960s, with the implementation of governmental funding programs and financial aid, the Greek pig farming began to develop and changed from the domestic form to the industrial.
Since 1995, the industry is clearly oriented in enterprise structures and intense concentration of livestock (Batzios, 2001). Despite improvements in recent years, all the pig farms have weaknesses, which certainly are due to the small business development rates of the sector. These weaknesses have resulted in reduced competitiveness of Greek pork in relation to the European. The competitiveness of the Greek pig farming can be improved by increasing productivity and by reducing the total cost of production.
