Difficult to restore herd, black pigs in Western Nghe An have an unprecedented high price

Black pigs from the highlands are currently being sold at unprecedentedly high prices, from 130,000 - 170,000 VND/kg. Photo: Xuan Hoang

During this time, the price of live pigs in the lowlands has exceeded 100,000 VND/kg, while black pigs raised by ethnic minorities in the highland districts of Nghe An have a record high price, from 130,000 - 170,000 VND/kg. It is worth mentioning that people want to restore the black pig herd after the African swine fever epidemic but there is a shortage of breeding pigs.

Mr. Ha Ba Thai - Chairman of the People's Committee of Muong Tip Commune (Ky Son) said that due to the impact of African swine fever, hundreds of families had to destroy infected pigs. Since then, the local black pigs are very few, not meeting the pork demand of people far from the district center and the commune market, causing the price of live pigs to skyrocket in recent months. Pigs under 15 kg (young pigs) cost 170,000 VND/kg, pigs from 20 kg and up cost from 150,000 - 170,000 VND/kg.

"The commune has a plan to restore the herd after the swine epidemic, but because the breed is rare and expensive, while the economic conditions of the people are still difficult, it is difficult to restore the herd," Mr. Thai shared.

Black pigs are raised by highlanders in the free-range form, so the meat is delicious, popular in the market, and has a high price. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Arriving at Xop Phe village of Muong Tip commune, observing from the beginning to the end of the village, there were no free-range pigs. Mr. Nguyen Pho Tim - Secretary of the Party cell said that in the past, people raised quite a lot of free-range pigs, but due to swine fever and pig slaughter during the recent Tet holiday, there were no more pigs. "The village has 74 households, but now only a few households raise pigs in small numbers. People now want to buy pigs to raise, but it is very difficult because they do not know where to buy piglets" - Mr. Tim confided.

Nam Can Commune (Ky Son) is a locality with a small number of pigs infected with African swine fever, so currently there are still quite a lot of households raising pigs, especially Mong people. Therefore, at this time, some traders have come to the locality to buy pigs. It is known that the price of pigs here fluctuates from 130,000 - 160,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Ho Ba Cha - Chairman of Nam Can Commune People's Committee said that currently in the commune, there are many households raising quite a lot of pigs, from 5 to 10 pigs. However, due to the high price of pigs, when pigs give birth, people mainly raise them and rarely sell piglets like before.

According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district, there are currently more than 24,000 pigs in the district, a decrease of more than 2,000 pigs compared to before Tet. "Currently, the district has a plan to restore the herd in communes where the epidemic has ended, but due to high pig prices and the scarcity of pig breeds, it is difficult to restore the herd" - Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district said.

Black pigs are in high price, so some households invest in raising them in captivity. Photo: Quang An

In Tuong Duong district, the price of black pigs has also increased similarly to Ky Son. Mr. Lo Kham Kha - Head of the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the high price of black pigs is due to the lack of pigs for sale. Before the Lunar New Year, the district's pig herd had nearly 24,000 pigs, but now it has decreased to nearly 17,000 pigs. Currently, it is difficult for people to restore their herds because the breed is scarce and the price is high.

Through research, it is known that black pigs in other districts: Que Phong, Quy Chau... also increased sharply from 120,000 - 160,000 VND/kg. Thus, the unprecedented increase in black pig prices in the highlands of Nghe An is due to a sharp decrease in pig herds and the scarcity of breeding pigs, making it difficult for people to re-herd./.