"Three-blood" cattle in Nghi Loc

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent years, Nghi Loc district has improved and enhanced the quality of its cattle herd by crossbreeding with imported Sind cattle. Currently, the number of Sind crossbred cattle (three-blood crossbred cattle) in the district has reached 14,705, accounting for over 52% of the total cattle herd and increasing by over 7,000 compared to two years ago.

Three-blood crossbred cattle in Nghi Loc

Mr. Duong Quoc Trinh, residing in Hamlet 14, Nghi Thuan Commune, previously raised four yellow cows, but the cows were small and had low weight, resulting in low economic efficiency. After the implementation of a program to improve the quality of the cattle herd, and with local support in the form of artificial insemination doses, his family proceeded with artificial insemination for four local female cows.

After two years of care, Mr. Trinh had eight hybrid calves, and after only five months, the calves were ready for sale at prices ranging from 18 to 20 million VND per calf, an increase of 7 million VND per calf compared to traditional yellow cattle.

It's not just Mr. Trinh's household; currently in Nghi Loc district, the movement to raise Sind crossbred cattle for commercial purposes is developing strongly in 30 communes and towns. The total cattle population in the district is currently over 26,000, of which 14,705 are Sind crossbred cattle, accounting for over 52% of the total herd.

"Three-blood" crossbred cattle have the advantages of large weight, more meat, and better meat quality, making them popular with consumers and therefore fetching a good price.

In Nghi Loc district alone, the breeding of Sind crossbred cattle provides over 1,300 tons of meat annually to markets within and outside the district, generating approximately 11 billion VND in revenue. This contributes to raising the proportion of livestock production value in the district's agricultural sector to over 42%. The use of Sind crossbred cows as a base for artificial insemination with Brahman and Droughtmaster breeds to create high-quality three-blood crossbred cattle, since 2013, has become a highlight, creating a breakthrough in beef cattle breeding in Nghi Loc.

The three-way crossbred cattle in Nghi Loc have many advantages such as large weight and delicious meat, making them popular with traders.

This is one of the solutions for the district to achieve its goal of an average annual increase of 2.5% in the total cattle herd by 2020. To achieve this goal, the Nghi Loc District People's Committee has assigned the Agricultural Extension Station to strengthen propaganda work through the development of Sind crossbred cattle breeding models. Accordingly, in 2015, the station organized 10 training courses on transferring scientific and technical knowledge in livestock farming for 350 trainees. This included integrating Sind crossbred cattle breeding techniques. Propaganda work was also strengthened through the network of local artificial insemination technicians.

Implementing a cattle breeding program focused on Sindhi breeds, along with establishing a network of local insemination technicians, Nghi Loc receives over 1,500 doses of semen from the province annually. In the first quarter of 2016 alone, the Nghi Loc agricultural extension station acquired 800 doses of imported semen from the United States and distributed them to the network of insemination technicians. Of these, the District People's Committee provided 200 doses.

According to statistics, the number of Sind crossbred cattle with 52% foreign blood in Nghi Loc currently stands at 14,705, accounting for over 52% of the total cattle herd (an increase of over 7,000 compared to the same period in 2014). Several communes in the central area of ​​the district, such as Nghi Dien, Nghi Van, Nghi Trung, Nghi Long, Nghi Thuan, and Nghi Hoa, consistently have a Sind crossbred cattle herd ratio of 60-70%. Notably, among the 258 family farms and large-scale farms, Nghi Dong commune alone has 8 farms raising Sind crossbred cattle with a scale of 15 or more animals.

To continue the cattle breeding improvement program in the district in the coming years, the district's agricultural sector has assigned the Nghi Loc Agricultural Extension Station to contract with the Provincial Livestock Breeding Center to supply sufficient Sind bull semen, nitrogen gas, and other materials to serve artificial insemination of Sind crossbred cattle in the area.

Thu Hien - Nhat Tuan