March 24, 2004

 

 

Substantial Growth In Vietnam's Animal Husbandry Industry

 

Vietnam's animal breeding industry registered substantial growth over the last decade providing a substantial boost to its economy.

 

A report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said that in the 1990-2003 period, pig herds increased by 6.3 per cent a year, chickens by 8 per cent, and cattle by 7 per cent.

 

Notably, dairy cow numbers rose exponentially, from 5,000 in 1980 to more than 80,000 last year. Dairy farms spanned a range of sizes - from State-run farms with large grazing areas for hundreds of heads of cattle to family-owned units. Fresh milk output reached 120,000 tonnes last year, almost 13 times that of 1990, to meet 18 per cent of domestic demand.

 

Chicken accounted for 73 per cent of the country's poultry population and produced 4.85 billion eggs last year.

 

Considerable increases were also seen in the populations of sheep, goats, deer, ducks, quails, ostriches and other livestock, partly meeting Vietnamese consumers' protein demands.

 

"The output of livestock feed increased from 43,000 tonnes in 1990 to 3.9 million tonnes in 2003, up by more than 90 times in the past 13 years," Dr Nguyen Dang Vang, director of the MARD's Livestock Breeding National Institute, said.

 

Milk processing factories have been built in different parts of the country, he said. Leading the industry was the Vietnam Dairy Products Company (Vinamilk), which owned 10 processing establishments with a total capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year, and joint venture Dutch Lady, with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes.

 

The growth in animal husbandry has also boosted the food processing, transport, trade and veterinary sectors.

 

Commenting on the rapid growth of the livestock and related sectors, deputy agriculture and rural development minister, Bui Ba Bong said, "such changes are a positive factor in restructuring agriculture into a large-scale commodity economy."

 

In its efforts to restructure, MARD has encouraged large-scale production, introducing high-yield animal breeds, and developing veterinary services.

 

Director of the ministry's Animal Health Department, Dr Bui Quang Anh, said MARD has paid special attention to raising the quality of home-made veterinary medications and preventing outbreaks of animal epidemics.

 

However, problems remain. Despite the ministry's efforts, Vietnam's livestock breeding is still characterised by autarkic and scattered, small-scale production.

 

Therefore, costs remain higher than in regional countries.

 

The breeding institute Vang also admitted that cattle and poultry meat were consumed mainly by urban residents despite a much higher rural population. He called for efforts to properly identify outlets for animal products at home and abroad.

 

He said the Government should encourage all sectors of the economy, especially farmers, to invest in livestock breeding with specific policies and measures in support.

 

Counting the costs

 

Avian influenza, hit Vietnam for over two months, wreaking havoc on the poultry sector.

 

The country has slaughtered more than 38 million poultry, accounting for 15 per cent of population.

 

Half of culled birds were chickens, 30 per cent were ducks and the rest were other species.

 

Losses from the epidemic are yet to be calculated, though some agriculture officials estimated it could mount to US$190 million.

 

Many poultry farmers have suffered losses as their complete stocks were killed.

 

The State has spent hundreds of billions of dong to fund the fight against the outbreak and help farmers to recover it.