September 2019
History and current status of Black Slavonian (Crna slavonska) pig breed, an autochthonous pig breed in the Republic of Croatia.
History and current status of the breed
Black Slavonian (Crna slavonska) pig is an autochthonous pig breed in the Republic of Croatia. It was created during the second part of the nineteenth century on the estate of Count Pfeifer, Orlovnjak, near Osijek. It is also known by the name “Fajferica”. It is a result of planned crossing between four pig breeds: Mangalitsa, Berkshire, Poland China and Large Black pig. This crossing aimed to create a pig with better meat and fertility traits. The first phase of crossing includes ten gilts of Mangalitsa and Berkshire boars. Additionally, Poland China boars were included in crossing schemes every 10 years. These systematic crossings were carried out from 1870 to 1910. The final phase of creation of Black Slavonian breed was during 1920 when crossing with English black breed-large black occurred. The success of crossing and breeding was confirmed in 1873 by winning gold medals at the Vienna Agricultural Fair. At the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Black Slavonian pig was the most common and, from an economic standpoint, the most important pig in what is now eastern Croatia. Thus, it is nowadays rightly considered an indigenous breed. Census of Black Slavonian pig breed is presented in Figure 1. Presently there about 209 registered farms with 1930 breeding sows and 242 boars of Black Slavonian pig breed in the latest available status (December 2017).
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| Figure 1. Census of Black Slavonian pig breed, presenting number of sows and boars per year. |
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