Hybrid cows gradually replace local cows, people have more income

People in the mountainous region of Tuyen Hoa (Quang Binh) choose to develop cows as their primary source of income to get rich...

Mr. Tran Van Vien's family (Dong Hoa commune, Tuyen Hoa district, Quang Binh) has built a herd of nearly a dozen cows. That simple farmer often planned to leave his wife and children to work abroad. But then, he decided to stay home and raise cows to... start a business. He was pleased when he had built up a herd of cows that seemed like he had capital. "One night, I woke up, got out of bed, put on my slippers, went to the barn, and turned on the lights to stand and watch. Every time that happens, I feel strangely happy," Mr. Vien confided.

The people of Dong Hoa commune, living at the foot of the high stone mounds, looked up. At the foot of the mountain are fertile lands that are very convenient for developing grasslands to raise cattle. Mr. Nguyen Tien Nam, Chairman of Dong Hoa Commune People's Committee, said that people here were impoverished before. Poor because there is little land, while people only have farming jobs without side jobs to increase their income. Therefore, local leaders have encouraged people to develop livestock farming, focusing on expanding the herd of cows.

In previous years, people often grazed their cows under the mountainside, in shallow ravines to let the cows feed themselves, and then visited them every few days or brought them back for counting. This method of free grazing is not very effective because cows get sick and get lost... often. The practice of building cages for raising animals and occasionally releasing them into the field when there is a shepherd has been implemented. At first, only a few families did it, but then they saw it was effective, so everyone followed suit.

Amidst that reticence and doubt, a few households are boldly pioneering. Then, the next year, the pioneer households raising hybrid cows showed people that it was easy to grow, that the cows were voracious eaters, rarely got sick, overgrew, and were two or three times larger in stature than domestic cows. When selling calves or adult cows, the price is as high as a winning season. It takes the same time to raise the same cost, but everyone will love it for several times more money when sold.

Gradually, barns were opened to raise hybrid cows, and local cows were gradually replaced. "After about 5 years, our commune has replaced the toad herd. Every family switched to raising hybrid cows, so they have a higher and more stable income," said Mr. Nguyen Tien Nam, Chairman of Dong Hoa Commune People's Committee.

Mr. Tran Van Vien's family (Dai Son village, Dong Hoa commune) is one of the leading households in improving cow herds. When raising hybrid cows, Mr. Vien also prepared land to grow grass to source food for the cows actively. Mr. Vien said people here develop their herd of cows based on food sources such as straw, growing grass, corn stalks, and corn cobs after getting the seeds. “On average, each family raises about a dozen children, which is enough. When the mother cow gives birth to a calf, she raises it for about a year and then sells it for money. Farming is generally based on rotation. When the herd grows to about 12 - 14 cows, about 6 - 8 cows will be sold to have a decent amount of money for accumulated capital. After a few years, the herd of cows continued to increase, and people sold them again," Mr. Vien said.

Tuyen Hoa is a mountainous district of Quang Binh province, so it has advantages in developing livestock herds. However, natural grazing is increasingly difficult because forest land has been planted with economic crops, and natural grasslands are shrinking and no longer exist.

In an interview with us, Mr. Le Nam Giang, Chairman of Tuyen Hoa District People's Committee, said that the locality has a policy of mobilizing people to promote livestock farming, including developing cow herds to develop the household economy. However, because it is impossible to increase the total herd due to objective factors, the district has issued a direction to improve the quality of the herd to compensate for the quantity.

With this determination, Tuyen Hoa has taken steady steps to improve the quality of the cow herd. From a total annual herd of about 15,000 local breed cows, Tuyen Hoa gradually increased the proportion of crossbred cows to 1,000, 3,000, then 5,000... Up to now, the total herd of toad cows has grown but not significantly, while the proportion of hybrid cows has reached nearly 12 thousand.

In recent years, Tuyen Hoa has had a new direction with a project to develop cow herds with better quality breeds. Mr. Cao Vu Dang, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Hoa district, said that the district has advocated bringing new breeds of cattle, such as Brahman, Droughtmaster, Senepol, BBB cows... to raise on a pilot model to compare actual results and increase quickly increase the number, replace local cow breeds, and further increase people's income.