October 10, 2012
Vietnam seeks long-term strategy to cut reliance on imports
In order to reduce heavy dependence on material imports, Vietnam is in need of a long-term strategy for the livestock and cultivation in general and for the animal feed production.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development forecast that Vietnam would have to import over two million tonnes of animal feed and materials this year, and such import would continue to rise in the coming years if no measures are taken to cope with the shortage of materials at home.
Speaking at the seminar, experts said that rice and derivative products from rice are the main supply of energy for cattle. Vietnam produces around 42 million tonnes of rice each year which can create 4 million-4.2 million tonnes of rice bran, and together with around 14.5 million tonnes of corn and soy, Vietnam is totally able to supply the energy-rich animal feed for the livestock.
According to Tran Quoc Viet from the National Institute of Animal Husbandry, there are no
technical difficulties in using rice to replace corn and wheat in producing animal
feed.
However, Vietnam''s rice and products made from rice do not have the price advantage to replace materials such as corn, wheat and cassava in animal feed production.
Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Head of the Livestock Husbandry Department, said that the use of rice to produce animal feed has only been applied in the Mekong Delta, which is the country''s key rice-growing region. The price of animal feed made from this material in other regions will be very high, he said.
Therefore, to lower the rice price and reduce the import of corn and wheat, there needs to be policies for rice farmers and animal feed producers. Besides, it is necessary to encourage people to change the habit of using old feed products.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said that the ministry will conduct researches on this issue and propose to the Government a long-term strategy for the animal feed production.
According to Tan, the reduction of imported animal feed is necessary, but Vietnam needs to focus on producing what are competitive. In addition, there should be an overall planning for the cultivation and husbandry to cope with changes of the global market.
The estimated import of animal feed and materials in the January-September reached US$142 million, down 4.2% from the same period last year. Most of materials for animal feed production of Vietnam are imported, and the price is volatile.
According to the Vietnam Animal Feed Association, the animal feed price has continuously increased since the year''s beginning, with soy meal rising from VND9,000 (US$0.43) in April to over VND16,000 (US$0.77) per kilogramme, rice bran from VND6,000 (US$0.29) to VND6,800 (US$0.33), wheat from VND7,000 (US$0.34) to VND7,800 (US$0.37) and corn from VND6,000 (US$0.29) to VND7,200 (US$0.35).