April 15, 2025 | 08:47 GMT +7

  • Click to copy
Sunday- 00:39, 18/07/2021

Exploiting 120 million tons of agricultural residues to feed livestock

(VAN) Among the annual 120 million tons of agricultural by-products of Vietnam, 90 tons can be exploited to feed animals.
Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock Production. Photo: DV.

Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock Production. Photo: DV.

Deputy Director Tong Xuan Chinh of the Department of Livestock Production under MARD said that it is completely an objective condition when the prices of animal feed for swine and poultry are increasingly surging to new heights.

Because over 90% of materials serving for animal feed production industry in Vietnam are depending on imports, mainly corn, drying properties of soybean oil, fish powder, DCP among others. No sooner than the first six months of 2020, had Vietnam imported over 10 million tons of raw materials for the production of livestock and aqua feeds of all kinds.

Thereby, for the feeding products produced from grain food-stuffs for pigs and poultry, Chinh affirmed that Vietnam needs to accept the common produce of global market prices as well as the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on logistics activities.

As mentioned by the Department’s leader, it is unpromising to self-control the materials of animal feed production for pigs and poultry in long-term as Vietnam has no strength compared to corn and soybean producing countries.

It is proved that the yield of Vietnam’s corns just around reaches 5-6 tons per ha while that of the US is nearly 10 tons per ha, which are all harvested by machine and stored in a cold silo so that Vietnam’s corns have no chance to compete in terms of prices and quality. Similarly, Vietnam's annual soybean production is not enough to meet the demand for tofu.

For rice products, recent studies show that most of Vietnam's rice varieties do not meet the nutritional criteria for animal feed. Currently, only rice bran and cassava (noodles) can be used to produce the feedings, but with very limited processing technology, cassava chips are still mainly exported to China.

Promoting the development of grazing cattle to take advantage of green forage and raw forage is an important development direction of the livestock industry in the coming period to reduce dependence on imported raw materials. Photo: TL.

Promoting the development of grazing cattle to take advantage of green forage and raw forage is an important development direction of the livestock industry in the coming period to reduce dependence on imported raw materials. Photo: TL.

Thereby, under the Strategy of livestock production development and the scheme on development of the animal feed processing industry in the 2021-2030 period, the Department of Livestock Production determined that it is necessary to focus on promoting secondary processing stages and technologies for products in the horticulture and aquaculture industries to produce feed products with domestic strengths.

According to statistics, Vietnam has over 120 million tons of agricultural by-products or residues of which 30 million tons are used for biological buffers while the remaining 90 million tons can be used as animal feed (40/90 million tons is straw used as feed for ruminants).

“Today, South Korea develops a technology of post-harvest handling of straws right in the rice harvest, followed by spraying with biological products, then packing, silage as food for ruminant animals, and preserved for up to 2 years. This is an important development direction that Vietnam's livestock industry needs to move towards in the coming period," emphasized Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock Production Tong Xuan Chinh.

While Vietnam spends billions of dollars to import materials to produce industrial animal feed in 2020, domestic enterprises started to export their green raw animal feed to the world.

Specifically, Vietnam currently has 39 exporters of forage, including biomass corn silage, grass silage, straw silage, gamma-ray feed, bio-buffer,... with an output of 225,000 tons, worth $22.3 million.

Authors: Nguyen Huan. Translated by Linh Linh.

Integrating social factors into the value of agricultural products: The story of Nestlé

Integrating social factors into the value of agricultural products: The story of Nestlé

(VAN) Businesses emphasize fairness and equality when integrating social factors into their sustainable development strategies.

France seeks collaboration in climate change response in Thai Binh

France seeks collaboration in climate change response in Thai Binh

(VAN) French organizations and enterprises propose that Thai Binh province provide potential and long-term cooperation contents related to climate change response and green industrial development.

Bringing the ‘heavenly treasure’ to the international market

Bringing the ‘heavenly treasure’ to the international market

(VAN) Shan Tuyet tea is considered a 'heavenly treasure'. The H'mong people allow the tea to grow naturally, adhering to organic production principles, with the aim of exporting the product.

Bayer and the National Agricultural Extension Center collaborate to expand sustainable farming practices

Bayer and the National Agricultural Extension Center collaborate to expand sustainable farming practices

(VAN) Bayer Vietnam and the National Agricultural Extension Center have signed a partnership agreement to expand the development of effective and safe farming models for rice, durian, and coffee.

Green livestock farming trend: Tay Ninh province takes the lead

Green livestock farming trend: Tay Ninh province takes the lead

(VAN) Tay Ninh province possesses all the favorable conditions, from natural advantages to geographic location and social harmony, to drive economic development, particularly in attracting investment and advancing modern livestock farming.

The 15 farms of BAF meet the global standard of Global S.L.P.

The 15 farms of BAF meet the global standard of Global S.L.P.

(VAN) Notably, every link in BAF's entire closed livestock value chain Feed - Farm - Food has received international certification.

UOB Vietnam provides green credit funding for sustainable aquaculture

UOB Vietnam provides green credit funding for sustainable aquaculture

(VAN) UOB Vietnam has recently signed a green credit agreement with NAVICO to develop sustainable aquaculture that meets international standards.

Read more