To make livestock farming a key economic sector

Many years ago, the life of Mr. Nguyen Van Hung's family, Co Dua village, Na Sang commune (Muong Cha district) encountered many difficulties. His family only raised livestock on a small scale using traditional methods. Struggling with the direction of economic development, and being encouraged by the local Party Committee and government, Mr. Hung thought of investing in a synchronous system of barns and livestock to develop according to a concentrated model. Accumulating experience, Mr. Hung boldly mobilized capital from credit institutions, relatives and friends to invest in building barns, buying buffalo and cows to raise. After many years of effort, he has now built a model of raising large livestock (buffalo and cows) in the form of a farm with nearly 50 animals and plans to increase the herd in the following years.

In recent years, livestock farming has been considered an important direction in the poverty reduction roadmap, not only for the people of Muong Cha district but also spreading to the highland districts, such as Tuan Giao, Muong Nhe, Dien Bien Dong, Dien Bien , Tua Chua... In Dien Bien Dong district, people have gradually changed their awareness and production thinking, boldly investing in developing large livestock farming in the direction of farms and ranches. Accompanying the people, the district has issued a specialized resolution on developing buffalo, cow and goat farming; at the same time, implementing many programs and projects to support people to develop and expand their livestock herds, such as: Supporting breeding animals, building barns, vaccination, grass seeds... The district has implemented hundreds of models to support production development, diversifying livelihoods and many projects to replicate poverty reduction models with a total of more than 3,000 supported livestock.

Under the leadership of the Party Committee and the government of Dien Bien Dong district, departments, offices, and mass organizations regularly organize and coordinate training courses to improve the capacity of commune and village veterinary staff; provide knowledge on disease prevention and control for livestock households; open training courses and vocational training in livestock farming so that rural workers have knowledge to apply in caring for their livestock. Thanks to that, the district's livestock industry has had many positive changes. Up to now, the total livestock herd in the district has reached over 70,000.

For Muong Nhe district, implementing the Project of the Provincial People's Committee, many communes in the district are gradually forming and developing livestock farming in the direction of farms and households. Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Head of the District's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: Livestock development, especially large livestock farming, is currently one of the major policies of the district. This will also be the key for local people to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. Combined with the potential of land, soil, and climate suitable for livestock farming, the District Party Committee has issued Resolution No. 05 on developing large livestock farming in the form of concentrated confinement, gradually forming a chain of valuable products in the period of 2021 - 2025 and the following years.

To put the resolution into practice, Muong Nhe district is currently promoting propaganda and raising awareness so that people understand the benefits of raising large livestock; thereby shifting from free-range to concentrated confinement. Up to now, 11/11 communes have planned a number of locations to develop livestock herds. Some households and units have selected locations, land funds, invested funds to build barns, planted grass and other raw materials to develop livestock. In the process of implementing the resolution, the district also encourages and creates favorable conditions for people to develop livestock, such as: Supporting breeds, creating conditions in terms of land funds, loans, techniques...

With the efforts of all levels, sectors and local authorities, it can be said that the development of livestock, especially large livestock, has been and is being supported by the people. The whole province currently has over 300 mixed farms raising buffalo, cows, pigs and goats; of which nearly 290 are small-scale farms, 18 are medium-scale farms and thousands of effective livestock models. The total livestock herd in the province is over 545,500, of which: 136,663 buffaloes; 98,447 cows; and 310,423 pigs.

With the goal of developing livestock farming (buffalo, cow, goat) in the direction of commodities, livestock products are produced according to value chains, have stable consumption markets, high competitiveness, efficiency and sustainable development; gradually convert extensive farming methods to intensive farming, making livestock farming become the province's key production industry; strive to increase the proportion of concentrated farming in farms, the average growth rate of livestock farms reaches about 6.5%/year; increase the proportion of livestock farming by semi-grazing and confinement to about 70%; livestock farming is bio-safe, disease-safe and ensures environmental hygiene. Currently, the province has had many policies and mechanisms to support people to invest in expanding herd size. With the assigned functions and tasks in the process of organizing the implementation of the Project, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has been doing a good job of coordinating and directing specialized agencies to preserve buffalo and cow genetic resources to select good breeds; strengthening guidance for farmers to participate in effective livestock development models; focusing on vaccination to prevent diseases...

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