Farmers in Nghe An province are building tanks and lining them with tarpaulin to grow duckweed as feed for pigs.

With a small-scale farm raising about 30-40 wild boars per batch, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (Hamlet 1, Quynh Vinh Commune, Hoang Mai Town) chooses duckweed and water hyacinth as green fodder for the pigs. Accordingly, in his garden, in addition to the 2-acre pond used for both raising water hyacinth and snails, he has also allocated 500 square meters for convenient harvesting of the water hyacinth.²A pond lined with tarpaulin for growing duckweed.

"Wild boars prefer aquatic plants, especially duckweed, which is very suitable for piglets from newborn to 2 months old. Two duckweed ponds, 500m² each."²"Just add mud, change the water occasionally, and the duckweed will grow naturally, without needing seeds or feed. The duckweed only needs to be scooped up and put into the trough or mixed with rice bran or corn to ensure the pigs get enough nutrients. This saves on both breeding costs and the labor of chopping vegetables. At the same time, because they eat natural, clean food, the wild pigs have higher resistance to disease."

With a 6-hectare farm raising 100 wild boar sows and hybrid wild boars, producing 2,000 market pigs annually, Ms. Nguyen Kim Tien (Hoa Hieu ward, Thai Hoa town) dedicates 1 hectare of pond to growing water hyacinth, duckweed, and duckweed as feed for the pigs. Each day, the 600 pigs (including sows and piglets) on the farm consume approximately 1-2 tons of water hyacinth.

Of the six regular farm workers, two specialize in harvesting water hyacinth. The water hyacinth is scooped from the pond, the roots are removed, it is washed clean, and bundled neatly. Then, it is transported to each section, distributed according to the number of pigs, and simply released into the pens for the pigs to eat.

"This is the main source of green, roughage feed for our pig farm. By utilizing and proactively managing this source, we save a considerable amount of money. Water hyacinth is easy to grow, develops quickly and vigorously, so as soon as one layer is removed, another immediately grows back, providing the pigs with food year-round."

"We hardly have to buy any green fodder; nor do we need to chop or grind it, so it's not time-consuming. The pigs eat duckweed, guava leaves, loquat leaves, milkweed, and ink grass, so they have better immunity and tastier meat," said Ms. Nguyen Kim Tien, the farm owner.

During the harsh winter months, to store feed for the pigs, she has her workers collect tons of water hyacinth. After cleaning, they put it into a shredding machine and wilt it. Then, they weigh and mix the ingredients according to the ratio: 100kg of wilted water hyacinth + 10kg of rice bran (corn flour, cassava flour) + 0.5kg of salt. After two weeks, the fermented feed is gradually fed to the pigs. "At peak times, when feed prices are high and pig prices are low, using fermented feed made from water hyacinth helps the farm get through this difficult period and ensures profitable farming," Ms. Tien said.

To implement the VAC (integrated farming) model, Mr. Nguyen Van Manh (Na Duoi village, Mau Duc commune, Con Cuong district) chose wild boar and native black pig as specialty livestock to develop his economy. He also has a 2,000m² fish pond.²He marked out an area of ​​200 meters.²Cultivate water hyacinth to use as green fodder for pigs. At the same time, utilize young acacia leaves harvested during pruning to feed the pigs.

Mr. Manh said: “With a scale of 40 wild boars and native black pigs, the output is quite stable, with prices always at 140,000 - 170,000 VND/kg, resulting in much higher economic efficiency compared to other types of livestock. Especially, by utilizing readily available green feed, we save on breeding costs, and the pork is lean and firm, making it very popular in the market.”

Currently, the trend towards clean, naturally raised livestock, especially specialty animals like wild boars and native black pigs, is highly favored by the market. Therefore, many households, small farms, and large farms are interested in utilizing agricultural by-products as animal feed, reducing reliance on industrial feed, saving costs, improving meat quality, and increasing product prices.