At the Conference on Promoting Sustainable Pig Farming Development held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on August 14, 2024, Mr. Pham Kim Dang, Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, said that in Vietnam, the growth value of the animal husbandry industry in 2023 is estimated at 5.72%, with a turnover of over $33 billion, contributing 26% to agricultural GDP and over 5% to the country’s GDP. It is expected that the total revenue of the animal husbandry industry in 2024 will reach $35 billion.
PIG FARMING STILL FACES CHALLENGES IN DISEASE CONTROL
Among them, pig farming remains the key farming sector, accounting for over 62% of the total output of live pigs produced in the country. The total number of pigs in the country as of July 2024 is estimated at more than 25 million (up 2.9% over the same period in 2023). The current sow herd is stable at around 3 million.
Pig farming has shifted towards reducing small-scale and household farming, and increasing professional households and large-scale farms. In the past five years, the rate of household farming has decreased by 5-7% per year (in the period of 2019-2022, small-scale household farms decreased by 15-20%). Currently, the output of pigs produced in small households accounts for 35-40%, while the output of pigs produced in professional households and farms accounts for 60-65%.
Mr. Dang said that in the first six months of 2024, the output of live pigs for slaughter is estimated at 2.5 million tons, up 5.1% over the same period in 2023. However, in addition to favorable factors, pig farming is currently facing many difficulties such as: biosecurity and disease control have not been really implemented synchronously. Professionalism in pig farming among household farms and medium and small-scale farms has not improved, and production costs remain high.
Regarding the epidemic situation, Mr. Phan Quang Minh, Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Health, said that from January 1 to August 12, 2024, the country recorded 863 outbreaks of African swine fever in 46 provinces and cities, with a total of more than 57,000 infected, dead, and culled pigs.
In terms of building disease-free zones, the country currently has 970 disease-free farms and zones in 55 provinces and cities that have been certified safe from African swine fever, classical swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, PRRS, and spirillum.
However, according to Mr. Minh, there are still many difficulties in controlling slaughtering and veterinary hygiene inspection. It is currently difficult to attract investors to build centralized slaughterhouses, or there are already some, but small-scale slaughterhouses still exist side by side, while investment capital is large, the capital recovery time is slow, the investment is risky, and many localities have low consumption needs.
In addition, the system of livestock and veterinary management agencies in localities is in flux, causing difficulties and problems in operation. There are still cases of unlicensed slaughtering after the construction and operation of centralized slaughterhouses. The number of animals slaughtered at centralized slaughterhouses accounts for only about 40-50% of the designed capacity…
MANY ISSUES NEED TO BE RESOLVED
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tay Ninh province, said that there is currently no solution to the conflict between the construction of livestock farms and residential areas. Many farms, when built, complied with the regulations on ensuring a distance of 500m from residential areas.
However, there are no regulations on the prohibition of residential development within a 500m radius of the farms. This has led to a situation where houses are getting closer to the farming area, and then complaints are made due to the odor from the farming area. In addition, we are striving to build and expand disease-free zones, but once they are recognized, there are no strong regulations to protect them, especially in relation to the transportation of livestock and poultry through the area.
Mr. Dang Van Minh, Chief of the Nghe An Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, raised the issue that the provincial-level management unit (Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary) performs administrative handling according to the Law on Inspection, leading to many cases related to animal husbandry and veterinary medicine that the Sub-Department does not have the authority to handle, and the case files must be transferred to another unit. Therefore, it is necessary to study the adjustment of the function of handling administrative violations with the position of Chief of the Sub-Department, which will be more timely and effective in management.
To promote sustainable development in the livestock industry, especially pig farming, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong, Chairman of the Livestock Association, said that there must be a clear development orientation: there must be sanctions for handling, good control of epidemics, market regulation, re-examination of the import and export balance…. Regarding slaughtering, it is necessary to industrialize and modernize the production process to avoid small-scale operations. The environmental impact assessment should be handed over to the localities for convenience in inspection, supervision, and coordination to avoid sitting on legal regulations for approval.
“It is necessary to focus on effectively implementing the five projects that have been approved by the Prime Minister on genetics, feed, processing, environment, livestock equipment, and human resources, and scientific research in animal husbandry.”
Mr. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Chairing the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien emphasized that pig farming in Vietnam has been identified as a key and important industry, and is shifting from small-scale farming to concentrated, commercial, and large-scale farming.
“More and more pig farming models are adopting a farm or concentrated approach, and value chains are being formed in pig farming. Currently, pork prices are quite high, bringing profits to pig farmers and businesses after a period of losses. Pork accounts for 65% of the consumer price index,” said Deputy Minister Tien, while noting that the time from now to Tet is not much, this is an important time for the livestock industry in general and pig farming, in particular, to focus on removing difficulties and preparing the necessary conditions to ensure a sufficient supply of safe and quality products.
First of all, it is necessary to ensure the supply of breeding stock with high productivity and quality. “Every year, we have to spend $7 billion importing feed ingredients. Therefore, localities and units must immediately plan to proactively supply domestic feed ingredients to reduce dependence on imported ingredients,” emphasized Deputy Minister Tien.
Especially, Deputy Minister Tien said that slaughtering and processing must be strictly managed in association with ensuring food safety. It is alarming that Resolution No. 43/2017/QH14 of the National Assembly on the implementation of policies and laws on food safety has been issued, but localities are still very lax in implementing it.
Deputy Minister Tien noted that in the long run, it is necessary to focus on strengthening the prevention of poultry smuggling across the border in northern provinces and smuggling in southern provinces. Continue to review imports to ensure compliance with legal regulations and take advantage of technical barriers. Functional units focus on directing and supporting enterprises, especially large enterprises, to promote export activities.
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