Agro ministry proposes solutions to help pig-farming industry

Customers shop at a supermarket. — Photo nhandan

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường has submitted a variety of potential solutions to Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc to help the struggling pig-farming industry recover.

The move comes after the price of live pigs kept falling, dropping to VNĐ30,000 (US$1.32) per kilo in recent months. With no indication of an end to this downward spiral, pig breeders across the country are facing losses, the Infonet online newspaper reported.

Previously, the price for per kilo of live pig was VNĐ40,000 ($1.76). One of the reasons for the fall is said to be oversupply.

Immediate solutions Cường has proposed include reducing the price of animal feed and veterinary medicine, and finding a stable market for the consumption of domestic pork meat.

Cường has also suggested that the Government direct banks and credit institutions to charge off debts of pig breeders, and people selling animal feed to help them recover their losses.

In the long term, the ministry will push for the use of modern technology to reduce production costs, improve productivity and seek potential export markets for domestic pork meat, he said.

The ministry has planned to instruct localities across the country to review, suspend and not issue licences for more animal-feed processing facilities as the current productivity is 31 million tonnes per year, far more than the target of 25 million tonnes by 2025.

The ministry also plans to reduce the livestock from the current 4.2 million sows to three million by 2019.

Long-term solutions for the situation involve applying the supply chain model to maintain food hygiene and safety, control prices, and adjust the demand and supply of pork meat, he said.