Livestock production in shambles after Typhoon Yagi: 'A lifetime of savings turns to nothing'

The modern duck farm ruined after the storm

A week after Typhoon No. 3, Mr. Dong Quang Cuong (Cam La commune, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh province) is still keeping himself busy. "From early morning to late at night, my brothers and I do all kinds of work, from cleaning up pieces of corrugated iron to repairing barns that were shredded by the storm and wind. In many decades I have lived here, I have never witnessed a storm as terrible as this one," he said.

During his youth of difficult family circumstances, Cuong had to struggle and do many different jobs, from farming, going to sea and selling ornamental plants to now raising ducks. Having done many jobs and failed many times, this time I probably suffered the most damage. The storm caused a power outage, the incubator stopped working, so my 80,000 duck eggs were ruined. At 4,000 VND/egg, I lost more than 300 million VND. Not to mention more than 7,000 super egg ducks are dying due to the storm's effects.

Having done many jobs and failed many times, Cuong probably suffered the most this time. “The storm caused a power outage, the incubator stopped working, so my 80,000 duck eggs were ruined. At VND 4,000/egg, I lost VND more than 300 million in total, not to mention more than 7,000 super-egg ducks are dying due to the storms’ effects”.

Holding the skinny, emaciated duck in his hand, Cuong pointed to its swollen lower abdomen, which looked like it had a malignant tumor. “The duck had eggs inside, and when the typhoon came, the ducks pushed each other, flapped their wings, and collided with each other, causing the eggs in their stomachs to break. The ducks had no mechanism to eliminate them, so the broken eggs remained inside. The ducks could continue to eat and drink, but they would slowly die, and there was nothing I could do about it,” Cuong said.

Coming up from a small duck farming household, Cuong boldly invested in expanding the barn to develop the most modern and large-scale closed duck farming model in Quang Yen town. Many failed businesses have formed a sense of maturity and alertness within Cuong in the face of danger.

“Through information from the media, I realized that this typhoon would be very strong, so before the storm hit, I quickly sold more than 10,000 ducks, equivalent to over 40 tons. I had to lower the price to VND 28,000/kg, so approximately VND 400 million lost, otherwise the damage would be even worse. If those ducks died, the environment would be polluted because we wouldn’t know where to bury them,” Cuong said.

Rise after the storm

Several agencies and organizations have recently visited and shown acts of encouragement toward Cuong's family. "My family will do everything possible to overcome the damage and try to recover production piece by piece. I have now repaired the duck pen, and next week, I will import duck breeds for production," said Cuong.

The Party, State and Government are paying great attention to those affected by Typhoon No. 3. Cuong hopes that there will be policies to freeze debts, extend debts, and provide additional loans to restore production. If more loans are not granted, farmers will no longer have the means of production. "Natural disasters are something nobody wants. I hope that the State will share with the people and the people will also share with the State, so that together we can overcome this difficult period," he said.

Holding in his hand a photo of the land (now a duck farm) taken more than 30 years ago, when it was still full of weeds, Cuong gave out a positve smile. “From a desolate place, I have built the barn as it is now. If I collapse because of Typhoon No. 3, all my efforts will be in vain. I am not giving up, I must do it again by all means”.

Typhoon No. 3 has caused severe damage to the agricultural sector of Quang Ninh province. More than 2,600 aquaculture facilities were damaged, 7,600 ha of rice and crops were flooded, and nearly 350,000 livestock and poultry were killed or swept away.