Biosecurity measures expected to boost livestock

Three major difficulties

Vietnam’s livestock sector has been experiencing the most difficult time ever with three major problems to face at the same time. The resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in localities badly affected livestock production and the market. Prolong social distancing affected veterinary work, vaccination and disease prevention on livestock and poultry because the grassroots veterinary force could not reach farms.

Currently, in some localities, African swine fever has re-emerged. Moreover, the price of live pigs dropped dramatically, causing farmers to suffer heavy losses.

Nguyen Thanh Duc, Director of the Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine in Kien Giang Province said that in recent years, local pig farmers continuously faced difficulties due to diseases and scarcity of breeding stock, increased investment costs increased and sudden abnormal fluctuation of hog prices.

After the outbreak of African swine fever in the province in 2019, many small farming households stopped raising pigs, causing a sharp decline in the total pig population. 

The number of pigs in Kien Giang province is only about 178,000 heads, equal to 60 per cent of that before the outbreak.

Duc said that pig farmers were now facing three major difficulties including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on livestock production, circulation and consumption, dropping pig prices and the resurgence of African swine fever.

A few months ago, African swine fever was first reported in Mong Tho commune, Chau Thanh district. Until now, the disease has spread to 16 communes, belonging to 6 districts and cities, including Chau Thanh, An Minh, Hon Dat, Tan Hiep, Vinh Thuan and Rach Gia.

Up to now, there have been 30 pig raising households being affected by African swine fever, with 575 pigs having to be destroyed, totally weighing more than 31 tons. 

“The most worrying thing at this time is that the price of live pigs has dropped too quickly, much lower than the production costs while the cost of feed and disease prevention has been increasing, causing farmers to suffer heavy losses,” he said.

According to Nguyen Thanh Duc, there is a higher risk of African swine fever shortly due to the lack of a vaccine and limited biosafety breeding conditions. At the same time, the selling price of live pigs is going against the investment cost, so, certainly, farmers will no longer be able or dare not re-herd.

Meanwhile, this is an important time for farmers to resume raising pigs to meet the increasing demand for meat on the upcoming Tet holiday. Currently, the support policy for farmers whose pigs are infected with the disease is not available, adding more difficulties for them.

“This will lead to the consequence that the supply in the province will be reduced, failing to meet the demand. The only solution is to import pigs from other provinces and cities or import meat from other countries, to balance supply and demand, " Duc said.

Year-end market expectations

Truong Kien Tho, Deputy Director of An Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that after the social distancing was eased, the veterinary force has stepped up disease prevention on livestock and poultry to restore production to serve the year-end market.

In particular, after a period of decline due to the impacts of African swine fever, the total pig population in An Giang province has decreased seriously. Recently, the pig herd is recovering very well.

Currently, it is estimated that the province has about 57,000 pigs, an increase of 2,300 pigs compared to the same period in 2020.

Meanwhile, the province has about 68,700 buffaloes, an increase of 1,000 heads, and more than 64,000 cows, an increase of 900 heads. 

The poultry herd now has more than 4.9 million heads, an increase of 100,000 heads mainly due to the increase of duck population which is now reaching more than 3.6 million heads.

However, now, live hog prices tend to decrease from VND20,000 to VND25,000 VND/kg over the same period of last year.

It is forecasted that by the end of 2021, when COVID-19 prevention and control measures are loosened, the price of live hogs will be stable again due to the high demand at the end of the year and the new Lunar New Year celebration.

“A good thing now is that An Giang has many businesses and livestock households apply biosecurity measures They also have expanded their livestock production to increase quantity and quality,” Tho said.

For example, in An Giang province, TH Group has started a hi-tech dairy project – the most modern of its kind in the Mekong Delta. The project has led many businesses to invest in cow farms in the direction associated with material areas.

The buffaloes and cows farming showed signs of recovery due to the increase in the area of ​​self-growing pastures and the use of agricultural by-products.

In addition to protecting livestock and poultry through periodic vaccinations, An Giang also developed plans for livestock and poultry development until the end of 2021 with priority given to biosecurity measures.

The agricultural sector will support connecting farmers with businesses in and out of the province to find a market for livestock products. 

The locality encouraged the restructuring of the livestock industry, switching from smallholder farming to centralised farming, focusing on and ensuring good biosecurity measures efficiently and sustainably.

At the same time, farmers are called on implementing solutions to reduce risks in livestock such as appropriate breeding procedures to limit pathogens entering the farm, saving costs in the breeding process, building chain links in livestock production. 

Restructuring the livestock industry, identifying and developing the province's key livestock (swine, duck eggs, dairy cows) are needed to make products with competitive advantages.

An Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also proposed the Department of Livestock Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to support the livestock and poultry industry for sustainable development.

There should be a price support policy in case selling prices fall below the production cost to stabilize the market price. The Government should offer loans with preferential interest rates for farmers to encourage them to join production chains and linkage chains.

"During this difficult time, farmers need to apply biosecurity measures to minimize risks in livestock as well as implement appropriate breeding procedures to avoid pathogens from entering the farm.

They should also join linkage chains in livestock production to reduce investment costs, share profits as well as risks when large market fluctuations happen. The Government should have policies to encourage businesses to invest in livestock and offer preferential loans to improve facilities and researches for a better quality of breeding animals," said Truong Kien Tho, Deputy Director of An Giang Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.