February 5, 2007

 

Vietnam to boost buffalo meat production

 

 

The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture is aiming to breed 3.23 million buffaloes and produce 88,000 tonnes of meat by 2015 in its effort to beef up the country's cattle production in the next decade.

 

To reach the target, officials have established breeding centres and are encouraging companies and individual households to develop buffalo farms and grow fodder.

 

Breeding operations in the mountainous northern provinces will also be intensified by the ministry. 

 

From 2001 to 2006, there have not been noted developments for the buffalo population as production only increased by 1 percent annually.

 

The North takes up 88 percent of buffalo production nationwide with the provinces of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and Son La having the most number of heads.

 

In 2001, 51,000 tonnes of buffalo meat were produced in Vietnam and rose to 62,000 tonnes in 2006.

 

Buffalo accounts for 2 to 3 percent of the country's total meat output.

 

Vietnam ranks seventh in global buffalo population and sixth in buffalo meat production.

 

Buffalo were once mainly used to plough fields, but increasing prices for their meat has pushed up their numbers.

 

High quality buffalo meat is now consumed in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh and exported to other countries in the region.