Livestock production in shambles after Typhoon Yagi: The debt is not settled, the epidemic has come

Everyone is worried about debt

It is common knowledge that livestock farms in Hai Phong, whether small or large, are all utilizing bank loans to develop production. Having suffered damage after Typhoon No. 3, all calculations of expected revenue were disrupted, and farm owners worried that when the deadline came, they would not have money to pay the debt or bank interest.

In My Duc commune, An Lao district, Bui Minh Hoa's pig farm is located within the Bau island area, surrounded by a wide and deep river, making this area almost inviolable in recent years. With a strict farming process, even Hoa himself did not expect that one day his family's "famous" pig farm would suffer such great losses.

“The storm hit and the power went out. The workers had to crawl on the road to get to shelter, and I followed the riverbank to the end of the farm to start the generator. Due to the strong wind, the electrical system in the sow pen short-circuited, so when I started the generator, the whole herd of pigs was electrocuted to death,” Hoa said.

Although there were no casualties, the damage inflicted on the farm was possibly worth tens of billions of VND. Everything was paralyzed, and there was almost no income left, so overcoming the consequences and the costs to get the entire farm back into operation would be very difficult without assistance from the State and banks.

Nguyen Van Thap's family in Tan Thanh ward also suffered a lot of loss after Typhoon No. 3 as the entire barn was flooded, the corrugated iron roof was blown off, causing more than 300 pigs ready to be sold to die. To limit the damage, Thap was forced to move the pigs to Thai Binh province overnight, hoping to "save as much as possible," but the pigs were slowly dying due to being submerged in water for so long.

“My family is currently in debt to the bank and acquaintances for the livestock farm, so if the debt is not deferred or extended, it will be very difficult to resolve all the debts. If we pay the bank, we will not have money to invest in reproduction and vice versa,” he said.

The danger of disease spread

After Typhoon No. 3, water sources in canal systems were mostly polluted. Many places emitted foul odors due to objective conditions, and floodwater could not drain quickly. Almost all livestock farms, particularly in low-lying areas, were flooded or had rainwater overflow. If there were no measures to handle, the risk of disease outbreaks was extremely high.

Being an experienced large-scale breeder with more than 20,000 egg-laying chickens but after the storm, Nguyen Quang Vinh (Toan Thang commune, Tien Lang district) still suffered losses of more than 2,000 chickens and 1,500 m2 of corrugated iron roof, totaling VND 1 billion.

From his perspective, although the damage was quite large and it would take two years for all systems to return to normal, what he worries about most right now is the spread of diseases. "If we are not careful, the damage could be many times greater than the storm," Vinh said.

Hai Phong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has requested localities to strengthen monitoring to detect early and promptly handle cases of livestock and poultry infected with disease or suspected of being infected with diseases such as African swine fever, avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin disease in cattle and buffalo, and blue ear disease.

People and farm owners absolutely must not slaughter, conduct trades on sick or dead animals, and must not throw dead animals into the environment. As for livestock and poultry in areas where epidemics have occurred, high-risk areas, and areas affected by floods, it is necessary to quickly review and organize full vaccination according to regulations.