Unlocking Tay Nguyen's Livestock Potential (Part 2): "Golden Land" for Disease-Free Zones

The Central Highlands offers significant advantages for establishing large-scale, modern, concentrated livestock farming zones located far from residential areas, ensuring disease safety.

The Pressure to Build Disease-Free Zones

Đắk Lắk is recognized as a province with substantial potential for livestock development, particularly for large animals. Regarding pig farming, Đắk Lắk ranks seventh nationwide in herd size, with approximately 820,000 pigs as of June 2020.

According to the Đắk Lắk Provincial Department of Livestock Production and Veterinary Medicine, livestock farming in the province has been relatively stable in recent years. Major dangerous diseases like blue ear disease, classical swine fever, and avian influenza have largely been brought under control. However, foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in cattle occur almost annually, and more recently, African Swine Fever has caused severe losses for pig farmers.

The Department attributes these outbreaks primarily to farmers' insufficient attention to disease-safe farming practices. Notably, many farms have inadequate, temporary shelters, often with dirt floors, and allow animals to roam freely. Non-compliance with regular vaccination schedules also contributes to the rapid spread of pathogens. While some farmers have built concrete floors for their animal shelters, waste disposal areas are often too close to the pens, facilitating pathogen dispersal. Additionally, many cattle are free-ranged in forests, leading farmers to neglect vaccinations, which results in frequent disease outbreaks.

In response to this situation, the Đắk Lắk Department of Livestock Production and Veterinary Medicine has developed a project for foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever-free zones. This initiative targets concentrated livestock facilities and dispersed livestock populations in Ea Kar district. The goal is to expand the establishment of disease-free zones to farm-scale livestock facilities in other localities across the province.

The project's objective is to control and prevent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever, ensuring sustainable livestock development, enhancing product value, and providing safe products for consumption within and outside the province, with an eye toward export.

Vietnam's Livestock Sector Faces Challenges, Central Highlands Offers New Hope with High-Tech Investments

HCMC, Vietnam – Vietnam's livestock industry has endured significant setbacks in recent years due to prevalent diseases. According to the Department of Animal Health, in 2019 alone, African Swine Fever led to the loss of over 6 million pigs. Additionally, nearly 19,000 livestock (primarily pigs) succumbed to or were culled due to foot-and-mouth disease, and over 133,000 poultry in 24 provinces and cities were culled due to avian influenza.

Despite persistent efforts by the veterinary sector to establish and maintain disease-free zones and facilities, Vietnam currently has only 32 disease-free zones at the district level, 138 at the commune level, and over 1,660 at the farm level. A significant hurdle remains: the lack of a disease-free livestock zone recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), which severely limits Vietnam's livestock product exports.

Central Highlands: A Promising Frontier for High-Tech Livestock

While major livestock regions like the Southeast and Red River Delta face constraints due to limited land and proximity to residential areas, the Central Highlands presents a compelling alternative. This region meets many criteria for developing concentrated, industrial-scale livestock farming coupled with robust disease safety measures.

Recognizing these advantages, two leading livestock enterprises, De Heus Group (Netherlands) and Hung Nhon Group (HCMC), have joined forces to implement two large-scale livestock projects in Đắk Lắk and Gia Lai.

In Đắk Lắk, the two companies are investing in the "DHN Đắk Lắk High-Tech Agricultural Complex" in Ea M'Droh commune, Cư M'Gar district. This project has a total investment of $66 million USD (approximately 1,500 billion VND) for the 2019-2025 phase.

Mr. Vu Manh Hung, Chairman of Hung Nhon Group, detailed the Đắk Lắk project: "The project spans nearly 200 hectares, including an 80-hectare great-grandparent and grandparent pig breeding farm with stock selected and imported directly from the Netherlands, a 30-hectare breeding chicken farm, a 15-hectare pig slaughterhouse and organic fertilizer production plant, and 30 hectares for organic farming and green spaces." He emphasized that the farming process will apply Industry 4.0 technology and adhere to 349 GlobalGAP standards.

Mr. Hung acknowledged the logistical challenges in the Central Highlands compared to regions like Dong Nai or Binh Duong, such as less developed transportation, distance from major consumption markets, and limited logistics services. However, he stated, "The reason we still chose to invest in Đắk Lắk and Gia Lai is that it's not easy to find large land areas, far from residential zones, to build concentrated high-tech livestock complexes in other regions."

The two groups, De Heus and Hung Nhon, are also jointly investing in the "DHN Gia Lai High-Tech Livestock Application Zone." This project aims to establish a closed-loop livestock chain, including breeding pig selection and production, pig slaughtering, animal feed and organic fertilizer production, and livestock product trade with an export orientation towards Southeast Asia.

"Currently, Đắk Lắk province is creating very favorable conditions for DHN Đắk Lắk High-Tech Agricultural Investment Joint Stock Company (the joint venture of Hung Nhon Group - De Heus) to develop a project for a disease-free zone and facility for foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever in pigs in Ea M'droh commune, Cư M'gar district," Mr. Hung added.

The goal of these projects is to transform Đắk Lắk into a developed high-tech agricultural province, supplying disease-free pig and chicken breeding stock to the Central Highlands and Southern provinces, and serving as Vietnam's first pilot disease-free zone according to international standards.

Once completed, the complex will become a high-tech livestock application center, producing products within a closed, internationally standardized value chain, manufacturing animal feed and organic fertilizer, trading top-quality Vietnamese livestock products, and aiming for export to Southeast Asia.

"The project is expected to officially supply clean, high-quality international standard pig breeds to the Vietnamese market by late 2021," Mr. Hung affirmed.

Ambitious Expansion for the Future

Over the next 5-10 years, De Heus Group and Hung Nhon Group plan to continue their collaboration, expanding their network of large-scale great-grandparent pig breeding projects and disease-free zones across all five Central Highlands provinces.

Following the completion of projects in Đắk Lắk and Gia Lai, they will then expand into Đắk Nông, Kon Tum, and Lâm Đồng. This expansion aims to increase the total pig breeding capacity to 10,000 - 15,000 great-grandparent pigs and 100,000 - 120,000 grandparent pigs.

Upon completion, this chain of projects will significantly shape the Central Highlands into a leading center for breeding pig supply and the development of high-tech livestock models in Southeast Asia and Asia.

Nguồn: danviet.vn