The demand for pig farming in the province is growing, but the reality shows that the supply of high-quality, stable, and locally sourced breeding pigs remains limited. This is considered one of the bottlenecks, making it difficult for farmers to proactively manage their production.
Currently, the total pig population in the province is estimated at 227,800 head, accounting for the majority of the total livestock population. The expanding scale of pig farming has led to a significant demand for breeding stock to support restocking and production development. However, the local supply of breeding pigs still does not meet the actual demand. The province has approximately 280 farm-scale livestock facilities, including large, medium, and small farms; among them are 7 enterprises and 32 cooperatives involved in pig farming. Therefore, pig farming is one of the key sectors, making a significant contribution to the local agricultural industry.
Many households and businesses in the province are focusing on investing in commercial pig farming.
Farm-based livestock farming has yielded significant results. The output of live pigs for slaughter from farm areas reaches approximately 6,300 tons per year, accounting for about 30% of the total live pig output for slaughter in the province (19,200 tons per year). This confirms the important role of concentrated livestock farming; pig farming accounts for a significant proportion of the livestock population. However, the pig breeding sector has not developed proportionally, lacking a sufficient supply of breeding stock, which is a "bottleneck" that needs to be addressed soon.
In reality, most farms still focus on commercial pig farming, while the main source of breeding pigs comes from small-scale production or exchange within the community, resulting in inconsistent quality. There are few centralized breeding facilities, primarily serving internal needs, with negligible supply to the market. Many high-quality breeds have to be imported from other provinces, leading to increased costs and potential risks.
Even large-scale farms are struggling to secure a reliable source of breeding stock. The Le Van Hoa Cooperative in Lung Thang residential area (Doan Ket ward) is a prime example. Having started raising pigs in 2024, the farm raises two batches per year, each batch consisting of approximately 500 pigs. All breeding stock is primarily purchased from provinces in the lowlands. Mr. Le Van Hoa, the cooperative's director, stated: "The current supply of breeding pigs is quite unstable; sometimes there's no demand, and sometimes it's available at the wrong time. Dependence on external suppliers makes the farm reactive in its production planning, easily disrupting the breeding cycle and affecting the timing of market sales. Furthermore, the cost of breeding stock is currently high, over 2 million VND per pig, significantly increasing input costs. Transportation risks are also high, with cases of loss or death during transit. When disease outbreaks occur, transportation is disrupted, the farm cannot import breeding stock, and is forced to leave the pens empty."
Not having control over breeding stock also makes pig farming unstable. There are times when pigs reach market weight but fall into periods of low demand, such as the rainy season or summer holidays when students eat lunch or stay in boarding schools. When market demand decreases, farmers have to extend the rearing time, reducing economic efficiency.
People take care of and clean the pigs at the breeding facility.
Along with that, small-scale pig farmers also face many difficulties due to a lack of quality breeding pigs. Ms. Phan Thi Eo's family in Mang village (Doan Ket ward) has been raising pigs for over 10 years with a scale of about 50 pigs per batch. The lack of strict control over origin and quality has resulted in piglets showing signs of crossbreeding and inconsistent quality. Ms. Eo confided: "The price of breeding pigs is quite high now. Self-breeding is difficult to control disease and the yield is unstable, so I'm not really at ease."
In reality, both small-scale farmers and large-scale farms are facing difficulties in accessing and securing sources of breeding pigs. The lack of a stable supply not only increases costs and reduces economic efficiency but also leads to uncontrolled self-breeding.
It is evident that the lack of local supply of breeding stock is a major obstacle to the sustainable development of the pig farming industry in the province. Overcoming this requires comprehensive and long-term solutions.
(To be continued)
Source: https://baolaichau.vn/kinh-te/ky-1-kho-chu-dong-con-giong-1135228
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