Replacing loose grazing with concentrated livestock farming

Reducing poverty by shifting to animal husbandry in the commodity direction

The borderland district of Phong Tho (Lai Chau) has more than 17,000 households with a total of over 83,000 people. Many among them are ethnic minorities, and the rate of poor families in this locality is high, approximately 44%.

According to Nguyen Canh Duc, Deputy Head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development of Phong Tho, the district creates planning for land funds and proposes many policies and mechanisms to encourage organizations as well as individuals to participate in developing cattle herds in the commodity direction.

Phong Tho integrates capital sources from Resolution 07/2021/NQ-HDND dated March 22, 2021, stipulating policies on the development of concentrated commodity agriculture in the 2021 - 2025 period and other national target programs. The objective is to support, develop and replicate cattle raising models in the commodity direction, create jobs and increase income for farmers.

The district also plans to promote information dissemination through the mass media about good models, effective ways of raising cattle so people can gradually change, raise awareness, and give up the habit of loose grazing to raise livestock in concentrated barns.

Proactively preventing disease

Starting with a few goats and cows initially, Chang A Cho (Po To village, Huoi Luong commune, Phong Tho) now develops the largest herd of cattle in the commune. With 44 goats and 7 cows, his family sells 1 - 2 batches every year, earning hundreds of millions of VND. For upland people, this amount of money is fairly large. It is an effective way to improve income and purchase household items.

He used to raise buffaloes, cows and horses only for the pull power, sometimes for meat when there was a big event in the family. Since 2020, he boldly borrowed money from the bank to invest in expanding the barn of 200m² wide, buying 26 goats and 3 calves to raise.

“Considering the number of cattle bought, I choose to keep them in cages instead of release them free for grazing. I aim to facilitate the caring process and strictly follow the epidemic vaccination schedule under the guidance of the commune veterinary officer. With the family's land, I plant elephant grass and use leaves and grass in the forest to create a rich and secure source of feed for the cattle. Thanks to that, the cattle of the family grow well without encountering any epidemics,” Cho said.

Truong Thi Thanh Thuy's family in Pa So residential quarter, Phong Tho town is also one of the households having high economic efficiency thanks to raising pigs. Her family releases 50 - 60 pigs to the market in each batch.

Thuy focuses on building a solid barn from the beginning with the support of the locality. She makes sure to keep the cages clean. The drainage and disposal treatment systems were made according to regulations. In terms of epidemic prevention, Thuy vaccinated the pigs two times a year and took the initiative in the caring stage, the feed source, so the pigs were healthy and sold at a good price. After deducting all costs, Thuy’s family can make hundreds of millions of VND.

Eliminating loose grazing

There are 4 concentrated breeding facilities in Phong Tho district, including 1 cow raising establishment, 1 buffalo farming establishment, and 2 horse farming establishments. Thanks to good veterinary work, despite certain signs of African swine fever in some areas, Phong Tho district has recorded no cases since the beginning of the year.

According to Tran Duc Phuc, Director of Phong Tho District Agricultural Service Center, the vaccination rate for cattle herds reaches over 95%, and the progress of environmental disinfection spraying phase 1 reaches 100%. Most people in the area have increased awareness of ensuring epidemic safety in livestock farming. They proactively build barns, eliminate the habit of loose grazing and prevent disease.

The current food demand in the locality and surrounding areas is fairly large, while livestock production of people in Phong Tho has not met such demand. However, the district continues to encourage farmers and livestock establishments to practice livestock farming in the form of closed industrial, intensive, biosafety, epidemic control, environmental protection and product underwriting. The borderland is steadily accomplishing the 2025 goal of having 5 concentrated cattle farming facilities.