Nghe An: Farmers still 'hang' pig pens but more than 360 pig farms are strongly repopulating their herds

Farmers still "hang" their barns

African swine fever (ASF) has had a significant impact on the total pig herd structure of Nghe An in recent times. Never before has pig farming suffered such heavy losses as in recent times when nearly 95 thousand pigs were infected and had to be destroyed. Especially in household farming, over 21 thousand households had their pigsty "suspended" by the epidemic.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa in Long Minh hamlet, Minh Son commune (Do Luong) has been "hanging" his cage for the past 9 months. Photo: Xuan Hoang

It has been 9 months since being infected with ASF, but the pig pen of Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa's family in Long Minh hamlet, Minh Son commune (Do Luong) is still empty, not daring to raise pigs again.

“With no more production materials and the epidemic still lurking in many localities, we farmers have to be careful even if we want to raise animals again. For now, we will definitely have to temporarily close the barns and wait,” said Mr. Hoa.

Not only Mr. Hoa's household in Do Luong but most of the farmers whose pigs were destroyed due to ASF infection have not dared to re-herd.

Since the outbreak of African swine fever, over 21,000 households in Nghe An have had their pig herds wiped out. Photo: Xuan Hoang

While households are facing difficulties, the structure of pig herd development is leaning towards farms. Pig breeding companies are increasing their herds, especially sows, which are a source of breeding pigs for the locality, ensuring stable production after the pandemic.

Restocking - still focusing on the farm

According to the investigation after the peak of ASF by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, the total pig herd in the province is currently about 935,000, down more than 10.11% compared to before ASF occurred. Of which, farm raising accounts for 30%, and households account for 70% of the total herd.

Farm-based farming will be more convenient for pigs in disease prevention. Photo: Xuan Hoang

While the focus of DTLCP in Nghe An in the past has been on household livestock farming, now the "balance" of this proportion is turning to increase the total herd rapidly for farms because raising livestock on farms means that disease control will be more convenient and safer.

Mr. Ngo Duc Quynh - Deputy Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine said that in Nghe An, there are currently 373 pig farms, including 23 large farms, 91 medium-sized farms and 259 small-sized farms.

Of the 373 pig farms, 12 pig farms with a scale of 100 - 200 pigs were infected with African swine fever in the past time.

Thus, currently in Nghe An, there are 361 pig farms that have not been infected with the disease and are increasing their herds strongly.

The province has 343 communes with ASF that have passed 30 days without any new cases of sick or dead pigs that need to be culled. The number of communes with the disease that have not passed 30 days is gradually narrowing to 23 communes, which shows that the remaining pig herd in the province has shown signs of stabilization.

Large-scale pig farms in the province are increasing their herds rapidly, but people are not encouraged to re-raise their herds at all costs if the farms do not meet disease prevention requirements, especially in places where there is no local source of pig breeds.

To restore pig herds after the epidemic, facility owners and farmers must comply with biosecurity measures as prescribed or have been certified as disease-free facilities according to VietGAPH and GlobalGAP in livestock farming.

Accordingly, the herd is gradually restored, releasing about 10% of the total number of pigs. After 30 days, samples are taken for testing. If all samples are negative for ASF, then 100% of the total number of pigs that can be raised at the facility will be released.