May 3, 2013
Vietnam's local poultry farmers are suffering losses as prices have slumped over poor consumption brought about by consumers' hesitation to consume chicken, following news reports of the new bird flu virus strain in China.
While there is no official information that the deadly bird flu virus H7N9 has entered Vietnam from China, local poultry farmers are already affected as prices have dropped on low demand. The Vietnamese Health Ministry has warned that the new strain is more dangerous than the H5N1 strain.
"The Vietnamese chicken breeding industry is on the brink of bankruptcy again," lamented H., sales executive of a chicken raising company in the southern province of Dong Nai.
Industrial chicken prices have dropped dramatically from VND38,000 (US$1.82) a kilogramme to only VND19,500 (US$0.93) a kilogramme, and the downward trend is not going to stop, he said.
Poultry farmers repeatedly suffered losses for the whole of 2012, and their hope to recoup investment this year has now faded.
"Farmers now incur a VND10,000 (US$0.48) a kilogramme loss," H. said.
The difficulty is rooted in the H7N9 virus news from China, according to Phi Long, who runs a chicken farm in Dong Nai.
"What's unreasonable is that during the recent outbreaks of the H7N9 strain in China which began March 23, no localities in Vietnam have announced bird flu outbreaks, according to the Animal Health Agency," Long said.
"News regarding the epidemic outbreaks should be carried in a way that will not affect the domestic farming industry," he added.
Even though local poultry farmers have equipped themselves with strict epidemic preventive methods, and competent agencies have granted safety certificates for their products, consumers still turn their back on domestic chicken, Long said.
"Our sales have dropped 30% since the news of the H7N9 outbreaks in China," H. said.
Local consumers have been frightened by the way local media described and reported a disease outbreak, said Tran Quang Trung, owner of a pig farm in Dong Nai.
