Ba Ria-Vung Tau: Applying high technology to develop sustainable livestock farming

Pig farm in cold room, biological bedding and automatic food and water system of Trang Linh Company Limited, Xuyen Moc district. (Photo: Hoang Nhi / VNA)

The livestock industry in Ba Ria-Vung Tau has recently transformed from small-scale farming to large-scale, concentrated farming associated with high-tech applications and value chain linkages.

This conversion not only brings economic value but also aims at a green and sustainable livestock industry.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau province currently has more than 404,000 pigs, 6.8 million poultry and more than 155,000 buffaloes, cows and goats.

Animal husbandry in the agricultural sector is shifting rapidly. If in 2005 this rate was only 31.6%, by 2024 it will reach nearly 47%; of which, high-tech products will reach nearly 35%.

The cold-house biological chicken farm of Mr. Vu Van Thanh's family, residing in Phuoc Loi hamlet, Phuoc Hoi commune, Dat Do district, from the outside looks like other traditional farms, but when entering the farm, it is a closed system, with full modern technological equipment for farming.

Invested since 2015, Mr. Thanh's family's 8 chicken farms are designed and built in a closed system, completely isolated from the outside, with a large capacity air conditioning system, and the temperature is always adjusted to suit the age of the chickens.

Chicken farm in the cold storage system of Long Thanh Phat High-tech Agricultural Cooperative in Xuyen Moc district. (Photo: Hoang Nhi/VNA)

Along with that, the chickens' food and water systems are also fully automated. Therefore, each chicken farm can raise more than 30,000 chickens but only needs 1 worker.

Not only saving labor, Mr. Thanh's family's high-tech farming model also brings high economic efficiency due to the low loss rate of raised chickens and short raising time. Each year, Mr. Thanh's family farm raises 4-5 batches of chickens, selling 150 tons of commercial chickens to the market.

Mr. Thanh shared that thanks to high-tech farming, we can strictly control pathogens, helping chicken farmers reduce losses when the loss rate is high.

Similarly, 4 high-tech closed cold-cage chicken farms with a scale of 80,000 chickens/batch, raising 3 batches per year, were put into operation by Southeast Global Investment and Development Company Limited, Suoi Rao commune, Chau Duc district since the end of 2020.

Mr. Pham Hong Thanh, Director of the Company, said that the investment capital for the model is quite large, about 2.2 billion VND/farm. The chicken farms are raised according to standards with an area of ​​1,600 m2/20,000 chickens/farm.

The farm is solidly built with concrete, steel frame, air conditioning system, automatic water trough, food tray. In addition to investing in cold barn, this farm also has automatic temperature, light, food and water management system.

In addition, the system of spraying disinfectants and treating manure is activated to prevent bacteria from outside from entering and affecting the chicken flock, preventing odors from arising. Chicken breeds and food are imported from CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company.

After 6 months of operation, Mr. Thanh's company has sold the second batch, the entire output is covered by CP Vietnam Livestock Joint Stock Company. After deducting expenses, the profit is about 500 million VND/batch.

According to Mr. Thanh, raising chickens in the traditional model is an open farm that cannot regulate the temperature, so the farm is sometimes hot, sometimes humid, sometimes cold... making the chickens susceptible to disease, with a high risk of loss, not to mention unstable output.

When it comes time to sell, if the chickens cannot be sold, the farmer has to spend maintenance costs, the chickens gain little weight while the amount of food for the chickens every day must still be guaranteed, so the efficiency is low.

“Although the initial investment for raising chickens using high technology is quite large, the process of raising chickens minimizes diseases, with a loss rate of only about 2%. In addition, linking with other businesses also creates a more stable and sustainable output compared to raising chickens in the traditional way,” said Mr. Thanh.

At the high-tech pig farm of Trang Linh Limited Liability Company, Trang Hoang Hamlet, Bong Trang Commune, Xuyen Moc District, more than 38,000 pigs are currently being raised; including 35,000 meat pigs and 3,000 sows, completely applying high technology in closed-loop farming.

According to Mr. Pham Truong Giang, CEO of Trang Linh Limited Liability Company, his family's farm was established in 2002, on an area of ​​70 hectares; of which, 25 hectares are used for pig farming. Since its establishment, the farm has applied high technology to pig farming.

Currently, Trang Linh farm is applying the process of raising pigs using biological bedding, closed in cold barns, with fully automatic feeding and drinking troughs. It is worth mentioning that, although raised in cold rooms, each barn will be designed with half a cement floor and half a biological bedding, so that when hot, the pigs will lie on the cement floor, and when cold, the pigs can lie down on the bedding.

In particular, during the process of raising pigs from birth to slaughter, pigs are not bathed at all (no contact with water sources). This design and method of raising pigs has helped to limit diseases, save a lot of costs in using electricity, water, veterinary medicine, and ensure the raising environment because there is no wastewater generated and no need to treat wastewater during farming.

Mr. Pham Truong Giang also shared that applying this farming model will take longer than normal farming, but the meat quality will be better, red meat, and leaner.

Therefore, currently, the price of live pigs at his farm is always 3,000-4,000 VND/kg higher than the market price. By applying high technology to livestock farming, Mr. Giang's family farm also saves about 50% of the cost of livestock farming.

In addition, the farm is currently investing in building a factory to produce organic fertilizer from pig waste to supply the market and serve clean vegetable growing in greenhouses.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the province, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province is currently developing livestock farming from small-scale, dispersed to concentrated, large-scale, biosafety farming applying high technology.

At the same time, forming production and consumption chains. Up to now, the province has planned 34 concentrated livestock farming areas in Ba Ria city, Phu My town, Chau Duc, Xuyen Moc, Dat Do and Long Dien districts.

In these planning areas, the authorities will propagate and mobilize people to switch from small-scale farming to large-scale, concentrated farming to control diseases, improve productivity, quality and competitiveness in the market.

Currently, in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, there are 177 livestock farms, with an area of ​​nearly 230 hectares, of which more than 75% of the farms operate high-tech livestock farming. Most of the livestock farms are planned far from residential areas, ensuring environmental hygiene and effective disease prevention.

In the period of 2021-2025, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province sets a target of high-tech agricultural production value accounting for over 50% of the total agricultural production value. To achieve the set goal, the province continues to effectively implement credit policies for enterprises investing in rural agriculture in the province.

At the same time, the province also prioritizes the construction and development of infrastructure in planned high-tech agricultural zones and areas, training human resources for high-tech agriculture and promoting agricultural trade; organizing tours to study high-tech agricultural models at home and abroad to apply appropriate and effective models.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trung, Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, said that to promote the development of high-tech livestock farming models, the industry is building a project on value-added chain linkage and food safety in livestock farming until 2025, with a vision to 2030.

This is a promising direction, contributing to improving productivity and product quality, bringing economic efficiency to farmers./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/ba-ria-vung-tau-ung-dung-cong-nghe-cao-de-phat-trien-chan-nuoi-ben-vung-post978132.vnp