Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development inspects pig herd restoration and spring crop production in Nghe An

On April 25, Comrade Nguyen Xuan Cuong - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) inspected the work of preventing and controlling animal diseases, promoting pig herds and spring crop production in Nghi Loc and Yen Thanh districts (Nghe An).

Also joining the delegation were Mr. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; representatives of a number of agencies under the Ministry. On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrades: Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Photo: Thanh Duy

GOOD CONTROL OF BIOE SECURITY WHEN REFLECTING THE HERD

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong visited the pig farm of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung's family, Hamlet 2, Nghi Trung Commune, Nghi Loc District, with a scale of 540 pigs and 60 sows. During the inspection, the Minister highly appreciated the farming process, the work of ensuring environmental hygiene of the farm, and the quality of the breeding pigs.

To continue expanding the pig herd, comrade Nguyen Xuan Cuong suggested that families and local authorities organize a closed production cycle and establish a cooperative model.

Next, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development visited the farm of Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, in Hamlet 13, Tan Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District. Currently, his family is raising nearly 1,900 sows and has 10 satellite households raising about 20,000 pigs for meat.

It is expected that by 2025, the farm will have a scale of raising 5,000 sows. Currently, Mr. Thanh is preparing to invest in an animal feed factory in the Southeast Economic Zone.

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong visited the pig farm of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung's family, hamlet 2, Nghi Trung commune, Nghi Loc district. Photo: Thanh Duy

The Minister highly appreciated the model and listened to Mr. Thanh's recommendations such as: creating favorable conditions in terms of processes and procedures so that farmers can invest in pig farms, having credit support policies for farmers...

Through an inspection of the pig herd restoration work in Nghe An province, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong assessed that the province has prevented and controlled African swine fever very well; the number of pigs infected and destroyed due to the disease in Nghe An is only about 10%, lower than the national average.

In addition, when the epidemic was controlled, Nghe An quickly implemented herd restoration work; to date, it has reached over 900,000 pigs compared to the pre-epidemic scale of 1 million pigs.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development visited Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh's farm in Hamlet 13, Tan Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District. Photo: Thanh Duy

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Cuong believes that by June or July this year, the province's pig herd size will be equal to or exceed that of the pre-epidemic period, so that there will soon be enough pork output to contribute to stabilizing the overall price of the whole country.

Currently, the province has many policies to support the promotion of pig herd restoration, including policies to support sows for small-scale households, farms, and ranches. This is an area that wants to accelerate its development speed to contribute to other large livestock areas in repopulating their herds after the epidemic; at the same time, it is also a solution to support the livelihoods of people who have suffered losses due to the epidemic before.

“We welcome this policy,” the Minister said, while recommending that the province needs to firmly control biosecurity so that when the pig herd is restored, there is no risk of disease outbreaks reoccurring.

Investment support policies must be consistent, such as breeds; creating all conditions regarding premises, procedures, sequences, and processes must be the fastest; there must be forms of technical process training to ensure biosafety.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh's sow farm in hamlet 13, Tan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Thanh Duy.

ENSURING A SUCCESSFUL SPRING CROP

In Yen Thanh, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong also inspected the spring rice crop in Tan Thanh commune. Thereby, he assessed that the rice areas were growing well, so it can be predicted that this spring crop will be relatively good.

However, the Minister also noted that we must be extremely vigilant because this year the weather is very unstable, especially in the second month of April; so we cannot be subjective. Therefore, for the rice fields that are currently about 1 week to 10 days away from ripening, we suggest that the province guide us to focus on harvesting quickly with the motto "green at home is better than ripe in the fields".

Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong also inspected spring rice in Tan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. Photo: Thanh Duy

As for late-planting areas, it is necessary to pay close attention to pests and diseases and request the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide the Plant Protection Department to strengthen inspection and control to promptly notify farmers to prevent and control, ensuring a successful spring crop, contributing to the overall picture of a good harvest for the whole country.

Previously, at a meeting with leaders of Nghe An province, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development emphasized that due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, there is a great demand for ensuring food and food security. Vietnam has nearly 100 million people, of which Nghe An has more than 3.3 million people, the issue of food and food security is extremely important.

Spring rice crop in Tan Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district is about to be harvested. Photo: Thanh Duy

With the above analysis, while acknowledging the food crop ecosystem in Nghe An, the Minister emphasized that the spring crop is extremely meaningful to this year's situation and requested Nghe An to ensure victory.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong works in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that Nghe An needs to promote agricultural restructuring associated with new rural construction and develop livestock farming in the direction of biosafety.