Double benefits in livestock farming thanks to self-sufficiency in breeding animals

Having invested in pig farming for more than 10 years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan's family in village 3, Tam Son commune has learned the lesson of having to invest.closed-loop farming, self-control in production stages, especially breeding.

Ms. Loan said that at first, she raised pigs on a small scale and had to buy breeds from outside, so the breeds were not guaranteed and the profits were very unstable. Therefore, in 2016, after expanding the scale of the barn and raising pigs using biosafety methods, she decided to raise sows to provide breeds for her family.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan's family in village 3, Tam Son commune is proactive in raising pigs thanks to breeding sows. Photo: Thai Hien

Ms. Loan calculated that by raising sows, her family saved about 1.5 million VND/pig. The breeding pigs were fully vaccinated, so the disease was controlled, and the farming efficiency was very high. Currently, her family raises 8 sows and nearly 100 pigs. The family's annual revenue is over 200 million VND.

In recent years, despite the outbreak of African swine fever, the pig farm of Ms. Hoang Thi Van's family in village 1/5, Cam Son commune has remained stable. This is thanks to the family's successful application of a closed-chain farming process from raising sows, breeding, producing piglets to raising pigs for meat.

Ms. Van shared: After many years of raising livestock, she realizedoffspringis a prerequisite, so the family always maintains more than 10 sows in the barn. Now the price of breeding pigs on the market has "cooled down" but is still high, so the family's self-production of breeding pigs not only allows them to be proactive in the breeding process, not dependent on outside breeding sources, but also saves a lot of costs. In addition, breeding pigs are cared for and vaccinated regularly, so they grow healthy and disease-free. From the number of sows raised, each year the family raises 4 litters of pigs, each litter of more than 200 pigs, after deducting expenses, the family earns over 300 million VND.

Self-producing breeds not only allows one to be proactive in the breeding process, not dependent on outside sources of breeds, but also saves a lot of money. Photo: Thai Hien

Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh - Vice Chairman of Cam Son Commune People's Committee said: Currently, in the commune, there are 7 farms and 17 large-scale livestock farms with an income of hundreds of millions of VND each year and hundreds of small-scale livestock households, with a total herd of 3,850 pigs. Currently, about 80% of households in the area have been proactive in raising breeding pigs. Many models have expanded the scale of breeding barns to raise from 10 to 20 breeding sows, providing hundreds of pigs for each litter for the family.

In recent times, the People's Committee of Cam Son commune has coordinated with functional units to organize training courses, transfer science and technology to livestock households on care processes, selection of breeds, food sources, disease prevention and treatment, and environmental sanitation. At the same time, creating conditions for households to access loans to expand on a large scale.

Self-sufficiency in breeding animals is both proactive and saves on raising costs for Anh Son farmers. Photo: Thai Hien

The entire Anh Son district currently has a total herd of 53,267 pigs, an increase of over 5.6% over the same period last year. In recent years, livestock diseases have become complicated, especiallyAfrican swine feverhas caused a lot of damage to the pig herd, leading to an increase in the price of piglets and many times people have had difficulty in buying piglets. Faced with these difficulties, many farms, households and livestock breeders have invested in raising sows to be self-sufficient in breeding sources. The number of sows is mostly concentrated in large-scale farms and households with a closed breeding process, producing piglets to restore the herd on the spot and supply to livestock farms in the area.

According to calculations by livestock households, the current price of breeding pigs ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 million VND/pig, sometimes over 3 million VND/pig with a weight of 8 - 10 kg/pig, the price of gilts is about 10 - 12 million VND/pig. With the above price, the cost of breeding pigs accounts for 30 - 45% of the production price. If farms and livestock households are self-sufficient in breeding pigs, it will bring double efficiency: both preventing and fighting diseases and reducing production costs, bringing high profits.

However, to ensuresustainable livestock farming, farmers need to pay attention to biosecurity measures. Accordingly, livestock barns in general and breeding sows in particular need to be far from houses and always clean. In particular, when buying sows for breeding, farmers need to pay special attention to their origin, ensure full vaccination of sows and piglets and care according to the recommendations of the professional sector.