Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong highlighted recent achievements and shortcomings in developing the livestock industry at the "Livestock Development Strategy for 2020-2030 with a vision to 2040" conference chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung held in Hanoi on September 15.
Over the past 10 years, the livestock industry has made a stride in terms of productivity and quality. From lack of food, the industry now ensures to meet consumer demand as well as nutrition for people.
Averagely, the livestock industry provides 60kg of meat, 12 litres of milk, 80kg of fish, 200kg of green vegetables and 200kg of fruit for each person a year. There are now between 6 and 7 million farmers, and a large system of large enterprises involving in the industry.
In addition to the achievements, Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong pointed out the shortcomings of the industry that need to overcome in the next 10 years. Its growth rate is fast but imbalanced as pork accounts for more than 70 percent of the food basket, causing a pressure on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and pushing pork prices up, along with people’s demand on diverse food.
According to Minister Cuong, among the industry’s three important steps, production is being well organised. Meanwhile, processing is conducted by manual slaughterhouses, without modern processing factories, and consumption is mainly at traditional markets.
The livestock industry needs to become a key in modern agriculture, towards the goal of export, he said.
“To avoid the current situation, the agricultural industry exports 40 billion USD of goods to 120 countries, however, there are few products from the livestock industry such as honey, salted eggs and suckling pigs,” said Minister Cuong.
In the 2020 – 2030 period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched a strategy to deal with shortcomings, reorganise the breeding, determine major orientations for development, considering the economic, environmental and welfare pillars as sustainable effectiveness of the livestock sector.
The minister said it is necessary to increase the volume of poultry meat and beef in the food basket, meeting the market demand. Livestock must become a modern economic sector, with all stages synchronised, and animal husbandry must be a leading sector in the circular economy. In addition, latest technology must be applied in waste treatment.
He stressed the export target, saying “this is considered the necessary pressure to force us to do well,” Minister Cuong said.
According to the minister, the sector needs to take advantages of the fourth Revolution Industry, ecological diversity, and the involvement of the State, businesses and people to realise the goal.
Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung affirmed livestock is an important industry in the Vietnamese economy, making a great contribution to the State budget.
He emphasised the need to have a strategy for developing breeding products in the coming time to clearly define goals, orientations and solutions for the development of the industry, making it match with potential and enhancing the competitiveness of the industry in integration.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, developing the livestock industry must be associated with environmental protection, towards industrialisation and modernisation.
He mentioned the development of enterprises, considering them the main driving force to modernise the livestock industry, the enhancement of connection in chains, and the application of science and technology in disease prevention and control, and organic livestock development in the direction of digital economy.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s report, after more than 10 years of implementing the "Strategy for livestock development to 2020 under Decision No. 10/2008/QD-TTg dated August 16, 2008", the breeding industry has obtained great achievements. During the 2008 – 2018 period, the production of meat of all kinds increased by 1.5 times; eggs 2.3 times; fresh milk 3.6 times; and industrial animal feed nearly 2.4 times. Some livestock products have been exported such as suckling pig and poultry meat, affirming the brand of domestic livestock products in the region and the world.
The livestock sector in Vietnam has gained high positions in the region and in the world, including the world’s fifth biggest in terms of the total number of pigs and sixth in terms of live weight of pork production, the world’s second in terms of the total number of water fowl, and Southeast Asia’s first in terms of dairy productivity and industrial animal feed output./.
