Livestock industry: Ensuring quantity and quality to serve Tet

(Baonghean) - At this time, livestock farmers throughout the province are actively promoting the development and care of livestock and poultry to meet the increased demand for food at the end of the year. In general, the reality of livestock farming from cities, plains to mountainous areas shows that food sources are extremely abundant and rich...

Currently, the province has 3,185 farms, including 986 livestock farms and more than 1,300 farms combining livestock and crop farming. During this "peak" season, livestock farmers are making efforts to have enough food sources to meet the diverse needs of the market before, during and after the 2015 Lunar New Year.

In Vinh City, the local supply this year is better than last year. Up to now, the city has a total herd of 935 buffaloes and 5,509 cows. Of this, nearly 10% is to serve the Tet demand in the province and outside, with a herd of more than 12,000 pigs, of which 11,047 are super lean pigs, raised according to a process that ensures high food quality; the city's total herd of chickens is 420,000, of which only 5,600 are industrial chickens, the rest are free-range chickens, traditional chickens with firm and delicious meat.

Mr. Trinh Xuan Tien, Head of the Food Products Management Board of Vinh Market, said: “Currently, the market has more than 50 stalls selling pork, chicken, duck, and livestock products from the main supply sources of the city and a stable import of a fair amount from the districts of Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc, Nam Dan, Do Luong, and Yen Thanh. Although there are still more than 50 days until Tet, the food vendors at the market have contacted and committed to adequate, timely, and quality supplies from livestock farmers.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh in Ba village, Huu Kiem commune (Ky Son) takes care of his pigs.

Regarding Hung Nguyen - one of the localities providing a large source of food for the Tet market - it is known that the district's total herd of buffalo and beef cattle is currently over 22,000, an increase of 18% compared to last year; the herd of pigs for meat is nearly 19,000, an increase of 20% compared to 2013 and the herd of chickens for meat is 110,000. The livestock has entered the fattening period. During these days, along the sandbanks through the communes of Hung Xa, Hung Linh, Hung Long, Hung Nhan, Hung Xuan..., hundreds of cows are being grazed and fattened by people. Mr. Nguyen Van Lieu and Mr. Tran Van Bang (in hamlet 4 and hamlet 3, Hung Xuan) are households currently raising over 10 beef cows, saying: "For households near the sandbanks, every household raises beef cows to improve their income, the few households have 3 cows, the many households have around 10 cows.

Especially when the Lunar New Year is approaching, households are more active in taking care of their cattle for sale. In addition to raising cattle from breeding stock, we also fatten cattle by buying thin, sickly cows at low prices, then bring them home to feed them with enough nutrients, following technical measures instructed by the livestock industry, and then sell them. The beef consumption market at the end of the year is very large and stable, so there is no need to worry about output, traders in and outside the province often come to the yard to buy."

For Yen Thanh district, one of the localities supplying a large source of pork for the province, farmers are currently in the "sprint" period of preparing to sell pigs to serve the Tet holiday in large quantities thanks to their confidence in the advantage of being located between National Highway 7 and Provincial Road 538, with convenient traffic conditions for transporting products to the market; on the other hand, the district also has more than 20 regularly operating markets. The total herd of pigs in the district is currently nearly 140 thousand, of which pork accounts for nearly 110 thousand. There are 7 communes that have strongly developed large-scale pork farming models, including Khanh Thanh, Cong Thanh, Minh Thanh, Hong Thanh, Duc Thanh, Dai Thanh, Tho Thanh and My Thanh with 26 large, professional pig farms. Mr. Le Van Nam's household (Hong Thanh) has developed a closed pig farm model with an area of ​​nearly 1 hectare, with 40 purebred pigs and 10 "underarm" pigs crossbred with wild boars. Traders have placed orders right now to serve the year-end market.

Regarding poultry products, especially chickens, they are mainly concentrated in Nghi Loc and Dien Chau districts. In Dien Chau district alone, there are currently 28 large farms specializing in raising commercial chickens, with a total chicken herd of more than 1 million chickens in the district. The communes that raise chickens in large numbers are Dien Trung, Dien An and Dien Thinh. Especially for Dien Trung, the commune has become the largest chicken farming area in Dien Chau district with over 160 households raising chickens in the direction of family farms with a scale of 200 chickens or more; there are 24 households raising over 1,000 chickens and over 10 households raising from 7,000 - 15,000 chickens/batch, each year, households raise from 2 to 3 batches following the GAHP method, creating clean products for the market.

For the mountainous district of Ky Son, the development of livestock for the Tet market is also focused on by the people. Not only selling in the area, but people also sell to other localities. Currently, the whole district has a total herd of more than 40,000 buffaloes and cows, and a herd of more than 28,000 pigs. In the villages, specialized areas have been formed to supply Tet meat, typically in Ba village, Huu Kiem commune, all 126 households of the village raise pigs, of which 3 households raise them in the form of farms: Mr. Nguyen Van Minh's household, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh's household and Ms. Vi Thi Xa's household, each household raises nearly 20 pigs with 2 basic breeds: white pigs and specialty black pigs...

With the livestock situation ensuring an abundant food supply, it also shows that when meeting the demand for Tet meat, which is expected to increase compared to last year, the price will still be reasonable. Mr. Nguyen Huu Minh, Deputy Head of the Livestock Department, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province affirmed: "With 14 million chickens in the year, especially 1.7 million chickens raised on farms, most of which are about to be sold, the chicken meat market will definitely be more abundant than last year. Regarding quality, food safety and hygiene are also of concern to functional sectors. Through the survey, it shows that the supply from livestock in general will meet the demand for large quantities and high quality during the 2015 Lunar New Year."

Thanh Quynh