Viet Nam's livestock breakthrough: Circular livestock becomes new pillar

Significant progress

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Tong Xuan Chinh emphasized that over the past decade, Viet Nam’s livestock sector has made significant progress in transforming production practices toward biosecurity, thereby contributing to the control and mitigation of many dangerous animal diseases.

Specifically, the legal framework and the state management system for livestock production and animal health have been relatively well synchronized and improved. The promulgation of the Law on Animal Husbandry and the Law on Animal Health, along with guiding decrees and circulars, has established a clear legal foundation for organizing production toward biosecurity.

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Second, biosecurity procedures in livestock farming have been increasingly and widely adopted, particularly in industrial livestock production chains and large-scale farms.

Measures such as farm entry and exit control, breeding stock management, cleaning and disinfection, feed and water control, and waste treatment have become mandatory requirements in many modern livestock production systems.

The third major step forward is the strengthening of disease surveillance and early warning systems, combining grassroots veterinary networks with modern diagnostic laboratories. This has helped the livestock sector respond more effectively to dangerous diseases such as African swine fever, Avian influenza, and Foot-and-mouth disease.

In addition, the development of disease-free livestock zones and closed production chains is being strongly promoted, especially in the pork, poultry, and dairy sectors. This provides an important foundation for Viet Nam’s livestock industry to enhance its competitiveness while ensuring animal health and disease safety in the context of increasingly deep international integration.

Policy remarks

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Livestock waste was once considered one of the most pressing problems facing the sector, but it has now been addressed in a more systematic and fundamental manner. Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh noted that environmental pollution from livestock waste had long been a major challenge for the industry, especially in concentrated farming areas. However, in recent years, thanks to consistent government policies and solutions, along with advances in science and technology, the problem has gradually and significantly improved.

First, the government has issued numerous environmental regulations and standards for livestock production, requiring farms to have qualified waste treatment systems in place before commencing operations. National technical regulations on environmental protection and livestock waste management have helped strengthen livestock producers' responsibility for protecting the environment.

Second, the livestock sector has promoted the application of biological waste treatment technologies, particularly biogas systems, biological bedding, and wastewater treatment systems. These solutions not only reduce pollution but also generate renewable energy and organic fertilizers for agricultural production.

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Third, many government and international organizations support programs have been implemented to encourage households and farms to invest in waste treatment systems that comply with strict waste management regulations.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of biogas plants have been built nationwide, contributing significantly to environmental sanitation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing methane for cooking, lighting, and brooding livestock.

At the same time, biogas systems have provided an important source of organic fertilizer for crops and aquaculture, while also creating opportunities to commercialize carbon credits on international markets.

According to Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh, the overarching direction of the livestock sector today is to shift from waste treatment to resource reuse in livestock production, treating livestock waste as an input material for other biological production processes such as energy production, fertilizers, and other biological products.

Making an important contribution to green growth

Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh emphasized that circular and closed-loop livestock farming is an emerging trend in the development of the livestock sector, in which the outputs of livestock production serve as important inputs for other sectors, helping to improve economic efficiency and reduce emissions.

Circular and closed-loop livestock farming is an inevitable development direction for modern livestock production, in line with the trends of the circular economy and low-emission agriculture that many countries are promoting.

However, during implementation in Viet Nam, several bottlenecks still need to be addressed.

First, the production scale of most livestock households remains small, making it difficult to invest in circular systems such as waste treatment, organic fertilizer production, or bioenergy due to high costs.

Second, linkages between livestock farming and other sectors within the circular chain remain limited, for example between livestock and crop production, organic fertilizer production, or bioenergy.

Third, policy mechanisms to promote a circular economy in livestock farming are not yet fully aligned, particularly those related to green credit, carbon markets, and standards for recycled products from livestock waste.

Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh believes that in the coming period, to strongly promote the development of circular livestock farming, attention should focus on several key solutions:

First, perfect the policy framework on the circular economy in agriculture, particularly mechanisms that encourage the reuse of livestock waste.

Second, support enterprises and cooperatives in investing in large-scale circular livestock farming models that can serve as core examples for replication by smallholder households.

Third, promote research and technology transfer for advanced waste treatment, organic fertilizer production, bioenergy, and insect farming (such as black soldier flies and earthworms) from livestock waste to produce protein for livestock and aquaculture, as well as bioproducts from livestock by-products.

Fourth, link the development of circular livestock farming with greenhouse gas reduction goals and the development of agricultural carbon credit markets.

“If these solutions are implemented in a coordinated manner, I believe that in the coming period, circular livestock farming will become a key pillar of Viet Nam’s livestock sector, enhancing value-added while making a positive contribution to the development of green and sustainable agriculture,” Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh

From March 27-28, the MAE will organize the first National Conference on Livestock and Veterinary Science and Technology, with the participation of leaders from National Assembly agencies, the Government Office, relevant ministries and sectors, management agencies, associations, enterprises, and scientists in the livestock and veterinary sectors from across the country.

The conference will take place at the National Convention Center. VAN News will provide live coverage of this important event.