December 30, 2022

 

Vietnam aims to be self-sufficient in livestock feed production

Duong Tat Thang, Vietnam's Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Livestock Production Department, said the country aims to boost domestic production of livestock feed as it aims to reduce its dependency on imports, SGGP News reported.

 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's directive, the Department of Livestock Production and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development units will collaborate with a number of corporations to implement a joint model production of livestock feed and feed ingredients in the country's Central Highlands region.

 

Vietnam's livestock industry is expanding rapidly, but the country must spend up to US$10 billion annually on agricultural products and raw materials for livestock feed.

 

The country has a total herd of approximately 28.6 million swine (3.2% up over 2021); 531 million poultry (1.4% up over 2021); 6.53 million cows (1.9% up over 2021); and live meat production of approximately 7.05 million tonnes (4.8% up over 2021)

 

Thang said Vietnam's livestock sector is experiencing livestock feed supply disruptions, which necessitates imports from other countries.

 

He said the domestic supply of livestock feed input materials such as corn and soybean is only about 30% to 35%.

 

Phung Duc Tien, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said in addition to ensuring sufficient food for the domestic market, efforts should be made to promote exports. At the moment, Vietnam's livestock industry has only a few exportable products, such as bird's nests to China, chicken to Japan, pork and suckling pig to Hong Kong (China), and thin pork to Korea.

 

Vietnam has increased its imports of animal feed. The county spent nearly US$10 billion on animal feed in 2021. It is estimated that Vietnam imported US$8.9 billion in livestock feed, poultry, and raw materials in the first 11 months of 2022.

 

The Animal Husbandry Association of Vietnam said with an average annual growth rate of 11% to 12% over the next five years, Vietnam will require approximately 28-30 million tonnes of raw materials for animal feed production each year.

 

Vietnam will have to import up to US$13 billion in raw materials for animal feed production each year if local output is not increased.

 

-      SGGP Online