Tu Hoang
Dang Kim Son, head of the Institute for Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, told the conference that “applying hi-tech solutions is one of the most critical conditions for dairy cow farming in Vietnam.” The event was organized by Son’s institute, the Association of High-Tech Enterprises in Agriculture and the Israeli Embassy.
Son said that high-tech applications would help address climate and environment issues that hinder dairy cow farming in Vietnam. However, high-tech applications require much capital, so financial support from the State is important.
Yuval, president of Israel’s group Afimilk, said that hi-tech applications would shorten the way to sustainable dairy industry and ensure clean milk production.
To obtain a yield of 12-13 tons of fresh milk per cow each year, there must be such conditions as good veterinary services, good feed for cows, farm designs suitable to the climate, and good farm and herd management technologies, he said.
Thai Huong, board chairwoman of the dairy group TH True Milk, noted that “high technologies are the golden key to the success of the dairy farming industry.”
The TH True Milk project with total invested capital of US$1.2 billion is a large-scale complex equipped with state-of-the-art technologies. The project producing clean fresh milk under the “from-pasture-to-table” model has played a key role in developing the country’s dairy industry.
A report from the agriculture ministry shows that the total herd in the country now amounts to 170,000 cows, with 120,000 head being raised by households.
The quality of fresh milk is not high due to low yield and the practice by farmers in using agricultural by-products as feed for cows. Due to low quality and short supply, Vietnam is reliant on imported materials for milk production.
Nguyen Dang Vang, head of the Vietnam Husbandry Association, said Vietnam spent US$812 million on dairy imports in 2012 and some US$1 billion this year. The country each year imports around one million tons of milk.
The country has set the target of raising the dairy herd to 500,000 cows by 2020.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
