Ensure spring livestock vaccination rate reaches 80% or more of the total herd

On the morning of March 16, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference on livestock development, disease prevention and control, and vaccination for livestock and poultry in 2023. Comrade Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development chaired the conference; attending the conference was Mr. Le Dinh Hue - Head of the Veterinary Sub-Department of Region 3.

Comrade Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development chaired the conference. Photo: Xuan Hoang

The livestock industry ofNghe AnIn recent years, the industry has continued to shift in the right direction of restructuring, gradually shifting from small-scale, dispersed livestock farming to concentrated farm farming; forming livestock farming areas, commodity production, and value chain linkages, helping to improve efficiency in livestock farming. The growth rate and production value of the livestock industry have continued to increase over the years, the proportion of livestock farming in pure agriculture has increased quite a bit, making livestock farming the main production sector in the structure of the agricultural sector.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the province, the total herd of pigs in the province is nearly 968,000 (ranked 5th in the country), the total herd of poultry is over 33 million (ranked 2nd in the country), the total herd of buffalo and cows is the highest in the country with over 787,000...

Nghe An's goal in 2023 is to have a total herd of 793,000 buffaloes and cows, 1,150,000 pigs, and 34 million poultry. Total output of fresh meat for slaughter is 285,000 tons.

Conference scene. Photo: Xuan Hoang

From the beginning of 2023 to March 15, 2023, a number of outbreaks occurred in the province.African swine feversmall scale in some localities, now past 21 days.

The provincial livestock and veterinary sector also recognized the following shortcomings: Small-scale livestock farming, with a high proportion of households, makes it difficult to control diseases and livestock waste. There are not many commodity-oriented livestock products, linked livestock farming is unstable and unsustainable, and the production cost of livestock products is still high. The rate of vaccinated livestock and poultry in the province is still low.

Local authorities have not yet resolutely punished violations in raising, managing, and vaccinating livestock according to regulations, thus not having enough deterrence and raising people's awareness in disease prevention and control.

Propaganda work has not been regularly carried out at the grassroots level, only focusing on propaganda during vaccination campaigns, and the propaganda time is still limited. The work of building facilities and animal disease-safe zones is still very limited, especially the construction of commune-level areas that are safe from rabies has not been completed.

From the beginning of 2023 to March 15, there were a number of small outbreaks of African swine fever in the province. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Speaking at the conference, localities said that the reason for the low livestock herd rateThe low vaccination rate is mainly due to the fact that people still have the mentality of waiting and relying on the State's support policies. In addition, the direction of the commune-level authorities has not been close and drastic; awareness of disease prevention and control among livestock breeders is still limited, leading to difficulties in vaccination work.

Localities proposed that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development should advise the Provincial People's Committee to soon have funding sources for mountainous districts and other programs according to regulations so that localities can implement vaccination plans for this spring crop as soon as possible.

Money for vaccinations for ducks in Quynh Luu district. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Faced with the reality that many localities have low vaccination rates for livestock and poultry, with some districts even achieving less than 20%, Mr. Tran Xuan Hoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development requested districts, cities and towns to implement a number of contents: Focus on directing the vaccination of livestock and poultry in the spring of 2023 to ensure a rate of 80% or more of the total herd. Allocate funds and effectively organize the implementation of disease prevention and control plans in the area based on the province's plan.

Focus on improving and enhancing the capacity of the commune-level veterinary team; establish a working group to inspect, urge and guide measures to prevent and control animal diseases.

Effectively implement the general cleaning and disinfection campaign to destroy pathogens in the livestock environment from March 15 to April 15, 2023 according to Urgent Dispatch No. 03/CD-UBND dated March 3, 2023 of the Provincial People's Committee./.