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Livestock industry to modernise
Viet Nam’s livestock industry aims to produce 5.5 million tonnes of meat, 14 billion eggs and more than 1 million tonnes of milk by 2020, a conference heard yesterday.
The deputy head of the Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Duong, said according to the Viet Nam Livestock Development Strategy until 2020, the nation aimed to increase the proportion of livestock products in the agriculture sector to 42 per cent by 2020.
By then, pigs, chicken and diary cattle populations were expected to increase by 2 per cent, 5 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.
Apart from meeting domestic demand, the nation’s livestock industry also targeted exports in the future, Duong said.
The national plan aims at a per capita output of 56 kilos of meat, 140 eggs and more than 10 kilos of milk by 2020.
"To achieve these targets, the sector had to modernise its production methods, shifting from household-based breeding to industrial farms," he said at the conference.
The sector needed to re-arrange its production system to ensure hygiene and safety in breeding and reduce diseases so as to improve productivity and quality, and protect the environment.
"It also needed to have a master plan for constructing slaughterhouses and meat processing plants with modern technology in tandem with the adoption of commercial livestock farming," he added.
Developing the animal feed industry was also very important to boost the sector’s development and sustain it.
Duong called on the sector to develop local sources as raw materials for animal feed production and make better use of agricultural byproducts for the purpose.
The livestock sector played an important role in Viet Nam’s agriculture production. Local demand for meat was expected to increase by more than 8 per cent per year from 2009-20.
Duong said livestock production would be a priority investment area for all provinces in the country.
However, small scale operations and outdated production techniques had led to high production costs, and Viet Nam’s livestock products were less competitive compared to other countries.
The high price of animal feed was also causing many difficulties for animal breeders.
A poor veterinary system and shortage of technical equipment for preventing and controlling diseases had made livestock production unstable.
The Government had issued many preferential policies to encourage individuals and corporations to develop livestock production, shifting to industrial farming.
Breeders using closed farms, for instance, could get complete financial support from the State to build infrastructure facilities and enjoy other perks like longer land-lease terms and lower fees.
The livestock sector grew at more than 8.4 per cent per year during the 2001-08 period, but last year’s growth dipped to 5.82 per cent. The proportion of livestock products in the agriculture sector last year was 24.1 per cent, the conference heard.
Latest technology
To help local livestock breeders access the latest technology and services, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development would co-operate with Thailand-based Company NCC Exhibition Organizer to organise an international exhibition on the livestock and dairy industry.
The exhibition - ILDEX Viet Nam 2010 – will take place from 25-27 March 2010 at the new Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City’s District 7.
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