Bio-safety in animal husbandry: A necessary trend

On August 15 in Nghe An, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, in collaboration with the Vietnam Livestock Association and the Nghe An Union of Science and Technology Associations, organized a scientific workshop titled “Applying biosecure and circular farming practices to enhance production efficiency in small-scale and household farms”.

According to statistics, the country's total livestock population includes approximately 571 million poultry (ranking second in Southeast Asia), 30 million pigs (ranking sixth globally), 6.29 million cattle, and 2.07 million buffalo. There are 48,622 farms (3,481 large-scale, 16,041 medium-scale, and 2,910 small-scale), 267 facilities for producing complete industrial compound animal feed, and 440 centralized slaughterhouses (under control).

Livestock farming is a key sector with stable growth. Positive signs continued to be evident in the first half of 2025, as demonstrated by many key indicators meeting or exceeding targets: the pig population increased by 3.6% (reaching 27.07 million), the poultry population grew by 3.5% (reaching 584.33 million), industrial animal feed production rose by 1.16% (reaching 8.7 million tons), live hog prices increased by 10-12%, and livestock product exports grew by 11.7%.

These achievements are the result of an increasingly completed institutional framework (the Law on Livestock, the Law on Veterinary Medicine, the Law on Food Safety, and various guiding decrees and circulars), the Prime Minister's approval of the Livestock Development Strategy for the 2022-2030 period with a vision to 2045, and the strong promotion of policies on genetics, environment, and disease prevention.

Small-scale and household farming is declining rapidly, while the quality of breeds has improved significantly. Biotechnology is applied in 100% of large-scale farms, and international standards such as Global GAP and ISO 9001 are being adopted (by companies like TH Milk, Vinamilk, Dabaco, CP, and Mavin).

Based on this data, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong, Chairman of the Vietnam Livestock Association, affirmed: "The livestock sector has had a brilliant development journey. Over 30 years of integration and development, it has made many breakthroughs and now fundamentally meets the consumption needs of the Vietnamese people through key products like meat, milk, and eggs. Livestock farming has made a particularly important contribution to the overall development of the agricultural sector”.

While these achievements are recognized, the national livestock sector also faces challenges from fluctuations in the global feed market. Small-scale, household farming still accounts for a high percentage, the organization of livestock production is not yet synchronized, and the complex nature of epidemics poses a high risk of disease outbreaks.

In Nghe An, there are nearly 1,000 farms classified under the Law on Livestock (37 large-scale, 340 medium-scale, and the rest small-scale). The province also has over 167,000 households raising cattle and buffalo (averaging 2-3 head per household), nearly 127,000 households raising pigs (7-10 per household), 187,891 households raising poultry (averaging 150-200 per household), and 25,391 households engaged in other forms of livestock farming.

The Nghe An Sub-Department of Livestock Production and Veterinary Medicine believes that applying biosecure farming is the key to repelling diseases. A synchronized approach to technical measures for breeding, housing, feed, and water, along with proper care, veterinary hygiene, waste treatment, and disease management, will help prevent and minimize the spread of pathogens.

A survey found that most large-scale farms in Nghe An are doing an excellent job of applying biosecurity measures. In addition, about 70% of medium and small-scale farms and 50% of household farmers are also quite effectively applying biosecure practices.

Meanwhile, the development of livestock farming under the circular economy model has created a major turning point for Nghe An, thanks to the simultaneous participation of leading enterprises such as TH Food Chain Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), Minh Loi Agricultural Cooperative, and Dien Trung Agricultural Cooperative.