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$Unique_ID{COW02814}
$Pretitle{356}
$Title{Paraguay
Chapter 3C. Livestock, Fishing and Forestry}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Daniel Seyler}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{paraguay
1980s
percent
electricity
itaipu
oil
country's
energy
exports
paraguay's}
$Date{1987}
$Log{}
Country: Paraguay
Book: Paraguay, A Country Study
Author: Daniel Seyler
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date: 1987
Chapter 3C. Livestock, Fishing and Forestry
Raising and marketing livestock, a traditional source of livelihood in
Paraguay, remained a major segment of agriculture and the economy at large
during the 1980s. Livestock output accounted for roughly 30 percent of
agricultural production and about 20 percent of the sector's exports. The
raising of livestock represented more than a quarter of total land use and 80
percent of all capital investment in agriculture. Paraguay's vigorous
livestock sector also was responsible for the country's high per capita
production and consumption of meat and dairy goods. It was estimated that 40
percent of the country's land was especially suited for livestock and some 20
percent generally suitable. Endowed with plentiful grazing lands, Paraguay had
vast potential for livestock development.
After the importation of 7 cows and a bull by the Spanish in the mid-
1550s, the country's cattle herds swelled to some 3 million head by the time
of the War of Triple Alliance, the largest herds in the Southern Cone. As with
every other sector of the Paraguayan economy, the war devastated the country's
livestock sector, leaving only 15,000 head. It was not until World War I that
domestic demand was met locally and significant exports left the country. By
the end of World War II, beef exports had become a major foreign-exchange
earner. Beef production and exports fluctuated considerably in the postwar
period because of international price movements, weather conditions,
government pricing policies, and other factors. In 1987 the country's cattle
herd stood at about 8 million head with an annual slaughter rate of 1 million
head. In that same year, 75 percent of the slaughter went to the domestic
market and the remaining 25 percent to the export market.
Cattle, mostly beef cattle, were found throughout the countryside. The
Chaco region was best known for its contribution to cattle raising because of
its lack of crops and its sprawling ranches. Nevertheless, the cattle
population density of Eastern Paraguay, 0.6 head per hectare, was actually
higher than that of the Chaco region, 0.3 head per hectare.
The country's breeding stock was primarily Spanish criollo, although over
the years considerable crossbreeding with English breeds and zebu cattle from
Brazil had taken place. Although cattle were numerous in Paraguay, the country
lacked a sufficient number of pure-bred breeding cattle. The livestock sector
also suffered from a low calving percentage, a high mortality rate, and a long
fattening period for steers. Artificial insemination was increasingly common.
To a certain extent, cattle raising reflected the disparities in agriculture
in general. There were numerous farmers who owned only a few head of
relatively unproductive cattle that were slaughtered for the local market
under relatively poor sanitary conditions. By contrast, extremely large cattle
ranches typically were owned by expatriates and butchered more productive
animals for both national and international markets.
Seventy slaughterhouses for the domestic market and eight for the export
market operated in the 1980s. Local slaughterhouses often could not pass
sanitary inspections, but government inspection efforts were focused on
improving quality control of exports to meet the stringent regulations of
foreign beef markets. The country's beef exports expanded until 1974, when
Paraguay lost access to European Economic Community (EEC) markets and lower
world prices further stagnated output. Beef exports responded strongly but
erratically in the 1980s as the government's minimum export price system and
contraband activity undercut greater export efforts (see Monetary Policy, this
ch.). For example, beef exports were a mere 3,100 tons in 1985, 48,000 tons in
1986, and 18,000 tons in 1987, the last being the more typical figure. The
1986 boom in beef exports was the direct result of beef shortages in Brazil
caused by price controls under its "Cruzado Plan." Paraguay's principal export
markets were Brazil, Peru, Chile, the EEC (specialty items only), Colombia,
Uruguay, and Saudi Arabia. Missing from official 1987 data, however, was the
unregistered sale of an estimated 300,000 head of cattle along the Brazilian
border.
Official government policy favored strong cattle development and exports,
a view articulated in national livestock programs since the early 1960s. A
major policy tool to promote livestock growth was the FG. The FG was not only
the major lender to the industry, but it also provided certain veterinary
equipment and medicine, encouraged quality control in meat and dairy products,
and operated a model farm in the Chaco.
Dairy cattle represented only a small fraction of the total herd. Most
milk production occurred at an estimated 400 dairy farms in Asuncion, Puerto
Presidente Stroessner, Encarnacion, and Filadelfia. The best yields came from
holstein-friesian dairy cattle followed by crossbreeds and criollo. High feed
costs and the general inefficiency of small dairy farmers slowed the growth of
the industry. The country produced approximately 180 million liters of milk a
year in the late 1980s.
Other livestock activity including poultry farming and the swine
industry. Some of the most productive poultry farming took place in the
Mennonite colonies, in Japanese colonies in the eastern border region, and in
the greater Asuncion area. Observers estimated that there were over 14 million
chickens, 400,000 ducks, 55,000 turkeys, and several other types of fowl. Egg
production stood at 600 million per year in the late 1980s and was growing at
about 4 percent a year. Pig farming was a relatively minor activity, engaged
in mostly by small farmers. The pork industry's greatest structural problems
were the high cost of feed and consumer preferences for beef. Government
policy emphasized self- sufficiency in feed grown on small pig farms.
Paraguay's swine population amounted to roughly 1.3 million in the late 1980s
and had grown at a rate of 6 percent a year in the first half of the decade.
Forestry and Fishing
Forestlands constituted approximately one-third of Paraguay's total area.
Utilized for fuelwoods, timber exports, and extracts, the country's wooded
areas constituted a key economic resource. Approximately half of all woodlands
contained commercially valuable timber. In the 1980s about 4 million hectares
were being lumbered commercially. Forestry data was only a broad estimate,
however, as a full third of timber production was believed to be exported
illegally to Brazil. Registered forestry exports accounted for about 8 percent
of total exports during most of the 1980s. Forests have played an important
role in the economy since the 1800s with the processing of yerba mate and the
resilient quebracho. Because of a general decline in tannin exports, however,
the quebracho played a correspondingly less important role in forestry.
Officially, Paraguay produced over 1 million cubic meters of lumber a
year in the 1980s. Trees were processed at over 150 small, mostly outdated
sawmills that produced wood products for the paper, cardboard, construction,
and furniture industries and for export. Trees also fueled the country's
railroad and largest steel mill. The country's woodlands contained over
forty-five species of wood suitable for export, but fewer than ten species
were exported in quantity. Paraguay was recognized as an exporter of fine
timber, and its wood exports were internationally competitive. In 1987 lumber
exports to Argentina, Brazil, and