December 29, 2006

 

Vietnam readies modernisation of livestock breeding

 

 

Vietnam's livestock breeding sector is gearing up for a massive overhaul as it evolves from small-scaled farms to large-scaled industrialised farms to face international competition.

 

The Vietnam News Agency reports modernisation of livestock breeding farms is part of the programme by the Livestock Breeding Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in transforming the livestock and agriculture sector for producing better commodities and raising the competitiveness of country's agro-industry.

 

However, the agency said the industry is still facing major obstacles such as slow planning, unstable markets and lack of technical know-how and capital among others.

 

Department specialist Dao Le Hang said the slow pace of planning process are felt by mountainous areas wherein no specific strategy are laid out. Such is the northern province of Ha Giang, which has the highest number of goats nationwide but does not have a concrete plan in goat rearing centres.

 

He noted that more than 63 percent of the provinces have admitted that their livestock breeding was spontaneous and does not follow planning required for large-scaled livestock farms.

 

An unstable market was the second factor hindering investment, expansion and development of animal farms, with over 57 per cent of the provinces complaining of unpredictable prices for livestock products, Hang said.

 

Thirdly, most of the farms rely on traditional farming rather than adopting new technologies or modern management systems. Hang stressed that farmers lacking technical knowledge and management skills will not be able to develop large-scale farms.

 

Investment funds are also a problem as farmers are unable to raise the required VND200 million (US$12,458) to VND300 million (US$18,688) to expand their farms as they neither have assets to be qualified for loans and short-term credit programmes. 

 

Lastly, the ever present danger of epidemics--where Hang said the country's veterinary and animal health department are still ill-equipped to address--posed a high risk to livestock, with 44 percent of provinces still reeling from diseases that has discouraged many farmers to continue.

 

These problems have prompted cities and provinces to implement programmes, including providing 60 percent of young breeds free to farmers. The Ministry also urged municipal governments to use 10 to 15% of their land for in large-scale livestock breeding and free vaccinations within three years.

 

Local governments, in return, has asked the Government to subsidise 50%  interest on bank loans for the first five years, invest in livestock breed supply centres in each province, provide 20 per cent of the capital to build roads, and install electricity and water supply systems in localities.

 

They have also proposed farms in remote areas be exempt from rental fees.

 

Analysts say that precise implementation of these programmes based on the social, natural and economic resources of each locality could make a turnaround for the Vietnamese livestock industry.