Abstract:

[Objective] This study aimed to analyze the current situation and benefits of cashmere goat industry in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, and to provide references for accelerating the high-quality development of animal husbandry in this area. [Method] Taking Otog Banner, the main cashmere producing area of Ordos City, as the research object, and the relevant data of 100 herdsmen engaging in cashmere goat farming were obtained through household survey from the year of 2020 to 2022. The management structure and the cashmere goat farming structure of the local herdsmen were analyzed. Furthermore, the DEA analysis model was constructed to calculate the comprehensive efficiency, pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency and scale returns of the herdsmen with less than 500 cashmere goats （small scale）, 500-699 cashmere goats （small and medium-sized scale）, 700-899 cashmere goats （medium scale）, 900-1 099 cashmere goats （medium and large-sized scale）, and above 1 100 cashmere goats （large scale）, respectively. [Result] The number of cashmere goats in this area showed an upward trend. Although the number of the other livestocks increased, it was far less than that of cashmere goats. The reproduction rate of reproductive female goats maintained a higher level, and the rate of twin goat kids was greatly increased. The combination of cashmere and meat production was the main mode of cashmere goat farming. The low age cashmere goats were used to produce fine cashmere, and the high age cashmere goats were mainly used to produce meat. The comprehensive efficiency of cashmere goat farming in Ordos City was at a low level, and the comprehensive utilization of infrastructure was insufficient. Under the current technology and management level, small scale herdsmen were more efficient in using the input resources, and their benefits were increased more significantly through improving the technology and management level. The average value of scale efficiency of large scale herdsmen was greater than that of pure technical efficiency, while the average value of scale efficiency of the other scale gradients was less than that of pure technical efficiency. Small scale herdsmen were more likely to improve the farming benefits by increasing input, while large scale herdsmen could obtain the optimal production benefits without the necessity for a further increase in factor input. [Conclusion] The cashmere goat industry in Ordos City has good development foundation, huge development potential and continuously improved production benefits, which exerts a great promotive role in increasing the income of local herdsmen. Households of different farming scales need to realize resource sharing by integrating resources, and to improve resource utilization by developing standardized farming. These measures can improve the cashmere goat farming benefits to a certain extent.

Key words: cashmere goat industry, development status, farming benefits, DEA, Ordos City