Phu Luong (Thai Nguyen): Protecting and caring for livestock from a poverty reduction support project

With support for female buffaloes, Mr. Ban Huu Vuong and his wife were excited and took care of the animals according to the technical instructions given by agricultural officers.

The family of Mrs. Nong Thi Guong, Lang Muong hamlet, Yen Ninh commune, Phu Luong district, is a near-poor household in the locality that has been supported with female buffalo for breeding. Mrs. Guong shared that for a long time, her family's economy has mainly depended on her working as a hired worker, so life has been difficult and unstable. She hopes that this "fishing rod" will be a support to help her family increase income and stabilize their lives.

“My family is very excited to be one of the households supported with 2 breeding buffaloes. Every day, I still take care of them, feed them grass, bananas, etc. Currently, my family's 2 buffaloes are very healthy. But now it is the transitional season, so I am very worried and hope that the local government as well as competent agencies will support the necessary vaccinations to prevent epidemics for the buffaloes,” Ms. Guong confided.

Mr. Ban Huu Vuong, Dao ethnic group, residing in Cong Hoa hamlet (Dong Dat commune) is one of the poor households supported with breeding female buffaloes under the Project to support breeding female buffaloes under Sub-project 1, Project 3, National target program on sustainable poverty reduction in Phu Luong district in 2024.

Since childhood, Mr. Vuong has suffered from cataracts and many other eye diseases, so his eyesight is very poor; he can only work in places where he is familiar with the terrain. Every day, Mr. Vuong and his wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoan, grow elephant grass and raise buffalo. Mr. Vuong and his wife hope that next year, the buffalo will grow well, so that the family will have a source of income, from which they can pay off the 60 million VND debt they borrowed from the bank for many years.

“Currently, with the buffaloes supported, my wife and I are trying to raise and care for them according to the techniques that have been instructed. I hope they grow well and reproduce, bringing more income to the family. I also hope that the government and other agencies will support my family as well as other households in the village and commune to be provided with regular disease prevention medicine to protect the buffaloes and cows from getting sick,” Mr. Vuong confided.

In order for people to have access to productive, quality, and economically efficient livelihoods to help sustainably reduce poverty and contribute to the implementation of the criteria for new rural construction, Phu Luong district has implemented the Project "Supporting female buffalo breeding under Sub-project 1 of Project 3 of the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Phu Luong district in 2024".

Accordingly, in 2024, Phu Luong district, Thai Nguyen province will distribute 48 female buffaloes to 24 poor, near-poor, and newly escaped-poverty households in 3 communes of Dong Dat, Yen Ninh, and Yen Do. The total support cost is over 1.1 billion VND, with the people contributing over 28 million VND. (Vietnamese buffalo standards weigh from 215 - 220 kg/head); additional material support (3 kg/head licking stone, 60 kg/head pelleted feed, 0.75 kg/head barn treatment product for farmers participating in the project).

In the last months of the year, the risk of livestock diseases arises, so the work of preventing and controlling livestock diseases to support poverty reduction needs to be paid attention to by people.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Ha, Director of Phu Luong District Agricultural Service Center, said that in the last months of 2024, the risk of infectious diseases in animals is likely to arise and spread. Therefore, the unit focuses on advising people to do a good job of preventing and controlling animal diseases in the area, especially in areas where diseases often occur.

In addition, the Center will strengthen vaccination activities, including organizing regular vaccination campaigns for livestock to prevent common infectious diseases, ensuring that the vaccination rate reaches the minimum level prescribed to avoid disease outbreaks; building a system to monitor the health of livestock at farms, households and communities. Assign veterinary staff to regularly visit households to detect and promptly handle cases of infected livestock.

“The local government and the unit expect that the model will contribute to changing backward and ineffective livestock farming practices to progressive livestock farming methods, gradually improving the lives of people in the highland commune of Phu Luong, helping households to escape poverty sustainably,” Mr. Nguyen Huy Ha, Director of the Phu Luong District Agricultural Service Center, added.

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Source: https://baodantoc.vn/phu-luong-thai-nguyen-bao-ve-cham-soc-dan-vat-nuoi-tu-du-an-ho-tro-giam-ngheo-1730866996872.htm