July 31, 2006

Vietnam to expand pig herd and improve breeding methods

Vietnam would expand its pig herd and embark on industrial-scale pig breeding, Husbandry Department Deputy Director Nguyen Thanh Son said at a conference last week.

The conference, entitled "Challenges and solutions to selection and mating for improving breeding sows," was held jointly by Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the US' National Swine Registry, with the aim of developing breeding to meet local demand and export.

Son said that the country would strive to increase the national herd by 5 million pigs to 33 million by 2010.

The industry targets exporting 25,000-30,000 tonnes of pork a year in the 2006-2010 period. To do so, it would improve facilities and equipment on pig farms and build artificial insemination centres in each province.

The country's 300 pig insemination centres currently can only fulfill 20 percent of demand.

The sector is encouraging imports of premium breeds to develop their herds. Most of the world's famous pig breeds, such as the Landrace, Yorkshire, Pietrain and Duroc are already in Vietnam.

Still, Vietnam's pig still lags behind those of other countries. When marketed, a Vietnamese pig weighs about 63 kg while a pig in China and Europe is 90 kg and 120 kg, respectively.

In the last five years, many breeders have applied new, modern methods and machines and reported improved results. However, Vietnamese pork is still of lower quality than those of other countries because of backward breeding, slaughtering and processing methods.