May 27, 2005

Vietnam wants to develop sustainable poultry sector

Vietnam's poultry breeders produce around 16-17 percent of the total live weight of poultry and cattle, and 19 percent of total revenue annually from livestock breeding. So it has been in the interest of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to restructure the domestic poultry breeding system so that sustainable development is sustained.

70 percent of rural households in Vietnam raise poultry but up to 65 percent have low effectiveness. Of all poultry, only 20-30 percent have been vaccinated for bird flu. The slaughtering and processing of poultry meat is carried in a traditional way that will not meet food hygiene and safety requirements. Furthermore, not all poultry that are sold to consumers have been quarantined.

A recent project of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, however, aims at creating a new breakthrough in organizing the breeding of poultry. The sector has been instructed to increase production in order to ensure sufficient supply for short-term as well as long-term needs. At the same time, there must be regulations that allow poultry products to be sold only after being quarantined.

In addition, it will be necessary to upgrade poultry breeding facilities and to ensure sufficient supply of quality feed. Concentrated slaughterhouses, upgraded poultry processing facilities, and improved marketing of poultry products will be necessary to meet the demand for higher quality products, both in Vietnam and abroad.

With the new programme, the production value of poultry breeding is expected to make up 40% of the total production value of the livestock breeding sector by 2010, and 45% by 2015, instead of 30% at present. It also aims to minimize losses that the bird flu and other epidemics cause for the sector, while ensuring the safety of poultry products.