To make household livestock farming more effective.

(Baonghean) - Household livestock farming is a traditional form of livestock production throughout the country in general and Nghe An in particular. This form of farming contributes 60-65% of the total value of livestock products in the province, but it has many limitations that require proactive solutions.

Born and raised in Thanh Lien (Thanh Chuong), despite delivering hundreds of kilograms of homemade rice noodles and cakes daily, Tran Van Tam's family remains "loyal" to raising chickens and pigs. In the 1990s, it was thanks to this profession that he was able to build a spacious house. "I still raise chickens and pigs now. It doesn't bring in as regular income as the noodle and cake business, but I can utilize the leftover feed and rice water from the business. It's like earning a profit from labor; each year, my family earns tens of millions of dong from livestock farming, and we also have manure to fertilize our 3 acres of rice fields," Mr. Tam happily shared. The entire Thanh Lien commune has nearly 60,000 poultry and over 20,000 pigs, buffaloes, and cows, mostly raised by households. According to Mr. Dinh Viet Nam, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune: Among the people, the households with the most livestock only raise 300-500 chickens and ducks, while most others raise 50-70 chickens and ducks, a few pigs, and a few buffaloes and cows. Given the specific conditions of the commune, household livestock farming remains the most common form of livestock raising.

Pig farming according to VietGAP standards in Giang Son Dong (Do Luong). Photo: Chau Lan

As a locality with a strongly developed livestock industry, especially in recent years, Dien Trung (Dien Chau) raises nearly 150,000 poultry per breeding cycle. In recent years, concentrated livestock farming in the form of family farms and large-scale farms has developed very strongly in Dien Trung, with 168 family farms and large-scale farms ranging from 500 to 20,000 birds per household. However, small-scale farming by individual households remains quite common in most other households. Since 2011, the commune has implemented the VietGAP process in household livestock farming, yielding many positive results. This has helped raise awareness among farmers about applying necessary technical measures, resulting in faster weight gain in chickens while reducing rearing time, lower feed consumption, and especially, some groups of households have linked together, forming cooperative groups that jointly purchase breeds, raise chickens together, and find centralized, stable markets for their products.

Household livestock farming, especially small-scale farming, currently faces difficulties in disease prevention and control and ensuring a clean rural environment. However, it remains quite common and not easily replaced. It is estimated that household livestock farming contributes 60-65% of the total value of livestock products, mainly for domestic consumption. As a traditional, small-scale farming method, household livestock farming is easily developed, thus closely linked to the livelihoods of nearly 70% of farmers, creating jobs and income for thousands of workers. Besides utilizing existing labor and infrastructure, household livestock farming also takes advantage of local agricultural by-products as feed, suitable for the skill level of the people who rely mainly on experience. Furthermore, it provides fertilizer for crop cultivation. Therefore, for Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular, household livestock farming will continue to exist for many years to come, and in the restructuring policy of the industry, the view remains to "gradually reduce" household livestock farming, not to eliminate it completely. The agricultural sector's orientation for restructuring the livestock industry still identifies the maintenance of two main methods: farms and family farms, and household livestock farming, in the direction of implementing biosecurity measures and applying technical measures regarding breeding, feed, environmental treatment, and disease prevention to ensure the efficiency and safety of this form of livestock farming.

To ensure efficient and modern livestock farming in households, Mr. Luu Cong Hoa, Head of the Livestock Department of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated: Over the years, the province has implemented many policies to support livestock development, such as providing free artificial insemination for buffaloes and cattle, importing breeding bulls, and supporting the import and breeding of foreign pig breeds. In particular, since 2011, the VietGAP process has been implemented in household livestock farming in four districts: Dien Chau, Nam Dan, Do Luong, and Nghi Loc. To date, it has been established in 10 communes, with 30 GAP groups and 599 participating households. In addition, through agricultural extension programs of the National Agricultural Extension Center, the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, and the Livestock Breeding Center, many models of pig and chicken farming following biosafety guidelines have been developed. The aim is to support household livestock farmers in implementing technical measures to increase added value, economic efficiency, and ensure food safety in a sustainable manner. In addition, through the VietGAP program and the Lifsap project, nearly 1,000 biogas tanks have been built, and the National Biogas Program has supported the construction of nearly 5,000 tanks. These programs have contributed to improving livestock breeds, product quality, and environmental protection.

In the future, livestock farmers need to proactively grasp and apply technical and technological measures regarding breeding, feed, disease prevention, and environmental management. Simultaneously, to create safe products, it is necessary to form teams, cooperatives, and groups to create a "shared in, shared out" system, purchasing supplies such as breeding stock and feed from reliable sources, creating a relatively concentrated production process, eliminating intermediaries, thereby reducing input costs and increasing output efficiency. The most difficult challenge is changing the awareness and practices of livestock farmers, helping them shift from traditional farming, relying primarily on experience, to a more targeted approach to meet market demands. Farmers must have investment capital for barns and environmental protection, knowledge of veterinary work and vaccination, and find, maintain, and develop good native livestock breeds that suit consumer tastes, such as black pigs, Muscovy ducks, and free-range chickens, to avoid competition with industrial farming and to leverage their own advantages. In particular, it is important to help farmers improve their awareness of linkages through the organization of cooperatives along the value chain, increasing market competitiveness and protecting their rights within the market mechanism. Specialized agencies need to help livestock farmers improve their technical skills and market knowledge, assisting them in ensuring consistent quality and facilitating sales.

Phu Huong