7th International Symposium on the Mediterranean Pig Options méditerranéennes SERIES A : Mediterranean seminars Series, Vol. 101

This publication presents the Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on the Mediterranean Pig held in Cordoba (Spain) from 14 to 16 October 2010. More than twenty years have passed since the first symposium was organized in 1989 in Ajaccio (Corsica), with the participation of French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish researchers. Since then, several symposia have been held and researchers from other European regions and from the rest of the world have joined the group, aiming to share, discuss and spread the scientific progress achieved in pig production linked to sylvopastoral and agroforestry systems. The objective of the Network on the Mediterranean Pig is to contribute to the progress of this production system, which brings to society all the values it possesses: it is a key element in the economic development of rural areas, it plays a key role in the environmental management of zones associated with sylvopastoral and agroforestry systems, and it offers high-quality products, demanded by consumers and very much desired by other types of livestock production systems. The pig production system must be studied within a wider context and, thus, issues related to genetics, production management, nutrition, health, product and socioeconomic aspects have been dealt with in the Symposium. This volume contains a total of 114 articles from contributions presented at the Symposium on all those topics. Given that this product quality plays an important role in the survival of these systems, 40% of the work has dealt with this aspect, as well as the traceability of the systems (12%), with the aim of contributing transparency to commercial transactions and giving a guarantee to the consumers in the different stages of the system (stockbreeders, industry, consumers).