Promote livestock herd restoration after Tet

After the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin 2024, livestock farmers in the province sold a large amount of livestock and poultry. Currently, many farms and livestock farmers have promoted controlled herd restoration, paying attention to disease prevention and control, ensuring supply to meet market demand.

People gather to restore livestock herds after the 2024 Lunar New Year. Photo: LY ANH LAM

As one of the large-scale livestock farms in Long My district, recently, to serve the needs of people during the Lunar New Year, the pig farm of Mr. Tran Van Quan's family, in Hamlet 3, Xa Phien Commune, Long My District, sold nearly 400 pigs to the market. Immediately after the sale, Mr. Quan's family cleaned the barn system, sprayed disinfectant and applied lime powder to disinfect. Mr. Quan said: "Re-herding is usually concentrated in the period from January to March every year, this is the time of changing seasons, so to safely re-herd, it is necessary to strengthen disease prevention and control. Regarding breeding stock, my family maintains the parent herd to ensure quality breeding stock. After the Lunar New Year, my family re-herded with a scale of 550 pigs, currently the herd is growing well."

To ensure safety in livestock farming, Long My district authorities have strengthened inspection and supervision of herd restoration, livestock development and disease prevention and control. Up to now, the total herd of livestock in the district is over 45,000, a slight increase compared to the same period last year.

Not only Long My district, right after the Lunar New Year, people in districts and towns in the province have been focusing on repopulating their herds to meet market demand. However, this is also the time when the weather changes, causing diseases in livestock and poultry to be at risk of outbreak and becoming complicated. Therefore, disease prevention such as disinfecting barns, vaccinating... to improve the resistance of livestock has been focused on by farmers.

To ensure the safety of livestock herds, the Provincial Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary and Aquatic Products has directed districts, communes and towns to strengthen disease surveillance in livestock herds. Proactively vaccinate livestock herds, especially households should raise livestock in a biosafety direction; the barn system needs to prepare barns to ensure hygiene, disinfection and sterilization before importing breeding animals, barns must be suitable for each type of livestock. In addition, leaders at all levels have also directed specialized agencies to focus on propaganda and technical training for livestock breeders to re-herd to ensure disease safety, focusing on developing livestock in a biosafety direction, introducing indigenous breeds and specialties with high economic value.

As for breeding animals, it is necessary to maintain the parent stock to ensure the quality of the breeding animals and their origin is clear; when importing breeding animals from outside, it is necessary to find reputable establishments. After purchasing breeding animals, it is necessary to proactively vaccinate them with all types of vaccines and apply biosafety farming processes to limit disease. During the breeding process, it is necessary to regularly monitor and supervise the health of the livestock to proactively take measures to prevent and treat diseases.

Up to now, the livestock herd in the province has developed stably, without major epidemics. The total buffalo herd is currently 1,237, reaching 87.67% over the same period and 103.08% of the yearly plan (1,200 heads); the cow herd is 4,159, reaching 110.26% over the same period and 109.45% of the plan; the pig herd is 146,012, equal to 101.44% over the same period and 100.01% of the plan (146,000 heads). Of which, there are 102,849 pigs; the poultry herd is 4,494,350, equal to 102.50% over the same period and 99.87% of the plan (4,500,000), with a total chicken herd of 1,867,270.

For livestock farmers, restocking after Tet is an important step to maintain livestock scale, stabilize production and ensure supply, meeting market demand. However, the weather is currently in the transitional period with high humidity and many diseases, so livestock farmers need to be careful in restocking to prevent and control diseases and protect the health of livestock. Mr. Trinh Hung Cuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Livestock, Veterinary and Aquatic Products of the province, commented: The livestock industry in Hau Giang province is mainly small-scale and fragmented, with the main livestock being pigs, chickens, ducks, buffaloes, cows and goats. In the province, there have not been established livestock production models according to the chain to increase value and ensure food safety. The quality of livestock breeding herds is still limited, and the development of concentrated livestock farming according to the planning roadmap has not been implemented synchronously. In addition, the disease situation in livestock and poultry is still complicated. In particular, African swine fever has somewhat affected the development of the livestock industry.

In order for the livestock industry to develop sustainably in the coming time, specialized agencies need to implement fundamental solutions such as promoting biosafety livestock and poultry farming; continuing to control diseases, especially African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, blue ear disease and H5N1 avian influenza. Propagating, guiding and directing the widespread application of biosafety and disease-safe livestock farming models, especially encouraging professional livestock farming households and concentrated farm farming... In addition, it is necessary to strengthen state management of breeding production and trading establishments, enhance local breeding production capacity to have breeding animals with reduced costs during the production process; as well as increase the application of science and technology, digital transformation in livestock farming. At the same time, focus on directing the construction of concentrated slaughterhouses in an industrial, modern direction, deeply processing livestock products to minimize intermediary stages in the chain to reduce costs and stimulate consumer demand.

MAI THANH

Source