Seminar discusses hi-tech application in dairy farming

At the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – A seminar on the application of high technology in dairy farming was held in Hanoi on June 2.

Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the Department of Livestock Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Vietnam’s dairy farming has yet to meet the demand of more than 90 million people.

Some localities have a large number of dairy cows such as Ho Chi Minh City with 90,000 heads, Nghe An with 62,000 and Hanoi with 15,000.

However, there was no firm connection between businesses and farmers, causing many difficulties for farmers.

Many experts said that Vietnam needs to promote breeding structure transfer and devise land planning for raising ruminants like buffaloes and cows.

It is necessary to encourage all economic sectors to invest in large-scale dairy cow breeding that applies high technology, they added.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Ruminant Husbandry Association Le Van Thong said that the country currently has more than 24,000 dairy farms with nearly 283,000 milk cows which yield 800,000 tonnes of fresh milk and meet about 40 percent of consumers’ demand.

Statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that in 2016, Vietnam spent more than 849 million USD importing milk. The figure was over 214 million USD in first three months of 2017, down 10.6 percent year-on-year.

Per capita milk consumption in Vietnam is estimated at 22 litres per year, compared to the world average level of 104 litres per year.

Thong pointed out shortcomings in dairy farming in Vietnam such as limited application of advanced and modern technology and inconsistent State policies.

At the event, experts also shared technical measures and advanced technology in breed selection, feed processing and disease prevention, along with measures to increase reproductive ability and milk productivity.-VNA