Raising goats for sale through grazing.

Creating a livelihood from raising goats for semi-intensive farming.

Vu Muon is one of the mountainous communes in Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province, that still faces many difficulties. The commune's natural conditions are relatively unique, with high mountainous terrain and winters that are often harsher than in other localities.

The goat farming area of ​​Ms. Dinh Thi Tu's family, Chooc Ven village, Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province. Photo: Chien Hoang

Due to the unique natural conditions, the selection of suitable crops and livestock has always been a top priority for the government and relevant professional sectors, who encourage, motivate, and provide technical training to support this process.

As a household with over a decade of experience raising goats in a semi-intensive system, Ms. Dinh Thi Tu (Chooc Ven village, Vu Muon commune) said that previously, her family mainly raised goats in the high mountain areas. However, in recent years, with the development of forest planting, the grazing area has shrunk, so her family has switched to raising goats in a semi-intensive system.

According to Ms. Tu, raising goats in a semi-intensive system allows for better care of the herd by providing timely feed supplementation and monitoring for diseases. With a herd of over 60 goats, Ms. Tu sells 30 to 40 meat goats, earning more than 70 million VND each year.

Based on the successful semi-intensive goat farming models in Vu Muon commune, recognizing this as a promising direction, in 2023, the local government provided guidance and support to people to develop their goat herds using funds from the Ethnic Affairs Committee of Bac Kan province, thereby overcoming difficulties and increasing people's income.

Ms. Nong Thi Thom, from Trung Tam village, Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province, takes care of the goats provided by the project at her family's farm. Photo: Chien Hoang

Having received goats from the production support project, starting with 7 goats, after one year, the family of Ms. Nong Thi Thom, Trung Tam village, Vu Muon commune, now owns a herd of 14 goats.

Ms. Thom shared that in Vu Muon, although surrounded by forests, most of them are special-use forests, natural forests, and protection forests, with very few production forests. Therefore, developing the household economy is very difficult. That's why she was very happy when the government helped provide goats from the project.

Ms. Nong Thi Thom, from Trung Tam village, Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province, shared the significance of receiving goat support from the project for poor people in the locality. Photo: Chien Hoang.

"The government's support in providing goats to poor households has contributed to helping people earn a living. Raising chickens and pigs requires more investment than raising goats. Goats mainly feed on various types of leaves readily available in nature, so when they receive goat breeds, the investment in feed is not much, and they don't have to contribute any capital. Besides natural grass, the family occasionally supplements their diet with corn, which they also grow."

"Goats are also easy to sell, there are no difficulties in finding buyers. Regarding goat diseases, we also receive support through training. Up here in the high mountains, it's cold, so goats often get sick in the winter. The training in techniques for detecting and treating diseases in the goat herd has helped us a lot in caring for our herd," Ms. Thom added.

Helping people escape poverty step by step.

Like Ms. Thom, Ms. Dinh Thi An, from Chooc Ven village, Vu Muon commune, also owns a herd of over 40 goats. Ms. An is also one of the households that received goat breeding support from the production support project of the Ethnic Affairs Committee of Bac Kan province.

Ms. An believes that programs supporting production and economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas are very practical. People have benefited greatly from these programs and projects, a prime example being the goat farming project that she and local people are currently implementing.

Mr. Dinh Quang Duy, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Vu Muon commune, visits and inspects the goat farm of Ms. Dinh Thi An (Chooc Ven hamlet, Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province). Photo: Chien Hoang.

According to goat farmers in Vu Muon commune, the climate, soil, vast rocky hills, and numerous streams are very suitable for raising goats. Goats are naturally clean animals, and the higher and more isolated the rocky mountains, the stronger they thrive.

Thanks to these advantages, goat farmers only need to invest initial capital to buy breeding stock, while the goats' development process mainly relies on the hills and mountains, with food coming from natural plants and grasses. In Vu Muon commune, most people raise goats using a semi-intensive grazing method.

Poor households facing financial difficulties have received support in the form of livestock through the production support program for ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Bac Kan province, contributing to helping people in these areas achieve stable livelihoods.

According to statistics from the Vu Muon Commune Farmers' Association, the commune currently has over 30 households raising goats with a total herd of over 700 animals, mainly concentrated in the villages of Chooc Ven, Toc Lu, and Coi Co. Of the 30 goat-raising households in the commune, 11 have received support from the project, and their goat herds are thriving, providing them with stable incomes.

Speaking with a reporter from Dan Viet , Mr. Dinh Quang Duy, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, emphasized that initial assessments show many positive results from projects supporting production development, specifically the goat farming model.

“With this project, participating households don't have to contribute any capital; they only receive and care for the allocated goat herd, which offers many advantages. However, the current difficulty is the limited amount of production forest land. Many households have already planned to plant fruit trees and forests, so the grazing area is gradually shrinking. That's why the semi-intensive goat farming model is very suitable,” Mr. Duy added.

According to the Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Vu Muon commune, to support farmers in developing sustainable goat farming, the local government has coordinated with relevant departments to organize training courses on scientific and technical knowledge of goat farming and disease prevention; and provided capital support for people to invest in expanding and improving the quality of their herds.

With favorable conditions for goat farming, semi-intensive mountain goat farming in Vu Muon commune, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province, is considered a suitable direction that brings considerable income to many disadvantaged households in the commune, helping them escape poverty, become wealthy, and actively contribute to the new rural development movement in the locality.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nuoi-de-ban-chan-tha-huong-di-nhieu-trien-vong-o-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-tai-bac-kan-20241006214333477.htm