Linking livestock production to reduce production costs

Mr. Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Mr. Duong Tat Thang, Acting Director of Livestock Production Department visited Hoang Long Cooperative, Chi Le village, Tan Uoc commune, Thanh Oai district in Hanoi, as well as a farming household in the area.

Recognizing the difficulties farmers face as pork prices continue to decline, Minister Le Minh Hoan stated that farmers should take appropriate measures in the short and long term to reduce production costs and risks in a surroundings where product prices are almost entirely determined by the law of market supply and demand.

"Connecting production will help mitigate risk and increase the value of excess animal products. Agriculture, particularly livestock, must adhere to reality in order to have timely and effective support policies for each chain of operations. Linking up is a necessary part of the present trend. At first, it may be only a few families sharing a common water supply and road, but we will progressively extend and reorient the growth route," the Minister said.

According to the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's Livestock Production and Animal Health Sub-department, the city has around 76 primary husbandry communes with 7.528 farms producing 4 million breeding pigs annually. The city's pig population is at around 1.477 million heads, an increase of 14% year over year.

In the first nine months of 2021, the expected slaughter of pigs is 168,000 tons, up 6.4 percent from the previous year. Hanoi's livestock sector discharged over 62,000 tons of live pigs for slaughter during the last three months of the year.

Thanh Oai is a vital part of the city's pig herd development. Around 20 kilometers south of the city center, the district's pig herd now numbers 36,955 heads, an increase of 13% over the previous year. However, residential areas are dominated by small-scale livestock production.

There are two pig slaughtering plants in the Thanh Oai region, namely Minh Hien Company Limited and Hoang Long Cooperative; there are also two significant food-related businesses in the area. Along with herd expansion, the district placed a premium on vaccination, with 8,400 animals (145 percent of the target) and 7,660 birds vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease (132 percent of the plan). Pig cholera vaccine, in particular, was extensively distributed, covering 138 percent of the plan.

There are several encouraging signs about livestock growth, but the high meat price, which has fallen below the VND 30,000 per kg, has hurt many farmers. Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, a resident of Kim Chau village, Kim Thu commune, Thanh Oai district, said that despite the coming Lunar New Year, his family and surrounding families often do not consider re-herding and preparing for a new production cycle.

Pork prices have progressively grown in recent days to around VND 5,000-7,000 per kilogram. It is, however, still lower than the level seen in March and April, when VND 70,000 - 75,000 kg was the barrier. Pork prices may climb from now until Tet, according to the Department of Livestock Production.

Minister Le Minh Hoan directed the Department of Livestock Production to conduct a field study to compile detailed data on food availability in order to use them to forecast demand for the final months of the year and the Lunar New Year, while also providing particular information to breeders.

MARD will also recommend to the Government additional tools and regulations to promote linking models in livestock production in terms of infrastructure, while simultaneously strengthening processing capacity to increase efficiency.