How to effectively restore pig herds after the epidemic?

Inadequacies of small-scale livestock farming

It was only after four months of having their pigs destroyed by African swine fever that Mr. Tang Tien Quyet's family in Hamlet 8, Tho Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh, dared to re-raise them. "We spent nearly 10 million VND to buy piglets, but after a week of raising them, they got sick again. Currently, the price of pigs is very high and they are easy to sell. I don't regret keeping them in the pen, but I don't dare to raise them again because I'm afraid of the disease. I have to switch to raising chickens, geese and ducks," Mr. Quyet shared.
African swine fever has caused more than 20,000 pigs in Yen Thanh district to be destroyed. Starting to re-herd after the Lunar New Year, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Head of the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the number of households that have re-herded is 1,763 households out of 5,283 households with pigs infected with the disease. "The biggest difficulty now is that small-scale livestock farming still accounts for the majority, with high density of livestock farming, even raising livestock with poultry, the risk of infection when re-herding is very high. Along with other factors such as fear, high prices of breeds and feed, people have not re-herded much because they feel that they have not met the requirements of ensuring disease safety and environmental factors when re-herding, which are currently being promoted by the locality," said Mr. Duong.

Farmers disinfect and sterilize barns before restocking. Photo: Phu Huong

It has been nearly 7 months since the pigs were forced to be destroyed, but Ms. Phan Thi Mau from Hamlet 5, Thanh Thinh Commune, Thanh Chuong District has not dared to rebuild her herd. “Pig breeds are too expensive and there are no pigs to buy. Spending a large amount of money to buy pig breeds and the disease recurs is dangerous. Therefore, I am switching to raising chickens, waiting for more time for pig breed prices to decrease before considering rebuilding my pig herd,” Ms. Mau said.

According to Mr. Dao Quang Bien - Head of the Livestock and Veterinary Station of Thanh Chuong district, the current level of pig herd restoration in places where African swine fever occurred in Thanh Chuong district is not significant. "In 2019, African swine fever forced 7,600 pigs to be destroyed, but this damage was entirely on small farms and small-scale households, while large farms in the area were not affected by the epidemic. Up to now, at concentrated farms, livestock farming has not been interrupted, following a closed process, self-sufficient in breeding stock. As for small farms and small-scale livestock farming among the people, although people have started to restore their herds since after the Lunar New Year, it is very small."
In fact, people are still afraid of disease outbreaks, so they are not enthusiastic about re-herding. Meanwhile, piglets are very difficult to buy and the price is very high. Previously, a super lean pig weighing 7-8 kg cost 1.3-1.4 million VND, but now it has increased to 2.5-2.6 million VND; piglets in the community have increased from 500,000-600,000 VND/pig to 1.5-1.6 million VND/pig. Many households have switched to raising chickens, geese, and ducks. Compared to the time before the African swine fever outbreak, Thanh Chuong's total pig herd has decreased by more than 30,000, now remaining at 89,000.

Safe and effective herd restoration

After the epidemic, pork prices have increased, currently still at nearly 90,000 VND/kg, more than twice as high as before. Meanwhile, African swine fever has been basically controlled. Therefore, the Government as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have advocated promoting pig herd restoration, contributing to ensuring supply as well as stabilizing pork prices in the market. However, to restore the herd safely and effectively, strictly following the recommendations of the professional sector and ensuring disease safety factors is a prerequisite at present.

The barn system in household farms still has many shortcomings. Photo: Phu Huong

Since May 2019, Mr. Nguyen Huu Sang - Hamlet 3, Tho Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh had to destroy all of his family's pigs due to African swine fever. After 4 months of leaving the barn empty, he started raising them again. "At first, he only dared to raise 8 pigs. Luckily, the pigs were safe and grew quickly, so I boldly re-raised them. Now, the third batch of pigs is ready to be sold," said Mr. Sang.

To achieve this result, several months before re-herding, he carefully treated the breeding environment, sprinkling lime every 5 days, pouring boiling water on the barn walls or even setting fire to destroy pathogens.

At farms, biosecurity has been applied but not thoroughly and poses many risks of spreading diseases. Photo: Phu Huong

To ensure careful and effective pig herd restoration and minimize the risk of African swine fever recurrence; to ensure pork supply to soon reduce pork prices to a reasonable level according to the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: Nghe An has a policy of encouraging herd expansion in large farms and has received very positive responses from businesses, such as Masan Company, which usually has only 40,000 - 50,000 pigs, but in recent months has increased to 90,000 pigs; some businesses such as CP, Tien Thanh... also have a fairly large herd increase, with an increase of about 5,000 pigs/unit in February 2020. In addition, in small farms and households, the total number of pigs that have been restored is about 7,000 - 8,000 pigs, bringing the total pig herd in Nghe An to nearly 870,000 pigs.

“In reality, the epidemic only occurs in small-scale farms, and the assurance of disease safety conditions is still very limited, so the re-herding in these epidemic areas will be slower than in large, concentrated farms. We are directing the review, assessment, and identification of qualified places to focus on re-herding, not encouraging massive re-herding, especially in small-scale farms that take advantage of and do not ensure veterinary and environmental hygiene conditions. Those households that do not comply with the provisions of the Veterinary Law when re-herding, if an epidemic occurs, will not receive support, and will even be handled according to regulations.”

Mr. Nguyen Van Lap - Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

In addition to increasing information and widespread propaganda on biosafety and disease-safe livestock farming; principles, measures and steps for pig herd restoration, localities, credit institutions and banks need to create favorable conditions, support and provide loans for businesses, farms and households to be qualified to restore and increase their herds.