Escape poverty by raising Mong Cai pigs

(Baonghean) - As part of the National Target Program on New Rural Development to support livestock development to increase income for ethnic minorities, recently many poor households in Chau Thuan commune (Quy Chau) have successfully built a model of raising Mong Cai pigs for reproduction, creating more income, and gradually escaping poverty.

Together with Mr. Van Van Minh, Head of the Agriculture Department of Chau Thuan Commune, we visited the model of breeding Mong Cai sows of Mr. Ha Van Anh's family (Thai ethnic group) in Chieng village. Welcoming us in his newly built house, Mr. Anh excitedly said: "This is the first time my family has raised Mong Cai sows for breeding, I didn't expect it to be so easy, now they have given birth to the third litter. Last May, my family sold a litter of 24 pigs weighing over 200 kg at 120,000 VND/kg, earning 24 million VND. I used all this money to invest in more pens to raise a few more breeding pigs."

Mr. Ha Van Anh takes care of piglets.

Through the National Target Program for New Rural Development, in early 2013, Mr. Ha Van Anh's family was supported with 2 Mong Cai sows. After 4 months of raising, the pigs were mated for reproduction. Since then, Mr. Ha Van Anh's 2 sows have given birth regularly twice a year, each litter containing 25-30 pigs. In the first year, the family sold all the piglets to households in the commune. In 2014, Mr. Ha Van Anh kept all the piglets he had given birth to. "Currently, there are still over 10 newborn piglets in my barn. According to the current market price, piglets are sold for 120,000-130,000 VND/kg, so this herd of pigs is quite expensive," said Mr. Ha Van Anh.

According to Mr. Ha Van Minh, in 2013, Chau Thuan commune received support from the district with 25 Mong Cai sows raised in 3/10 villages (Bong 1 village, Nong village and Chieng village) in the commune. These are qualified breeds and have been fully vaccinated against anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease by the Veterinary Station staff... After more than 1 year of implementation, all the breeds have grown and developed well, each pig gave birth to 2 to 3 litters; each litter has 12 to 14 piglets. People are very active in learning how to raise, prevent and treat diseases promptly. From the initial 25 piglets, up to now, 3 villages have developed a breeding herd of more than 100 pigs. "After the pigs give birth, people sell them to people in the village to raise together. With these sows, Chau Thuan commune has proactively controlled over 60% of the breeding pigs in the area, at the same time opening up opportunities to escape poverty and increase income for people".

Tran Ngoc Lan