Dairy sector needs overhaul

Dairy experts and producers have called for the establishment of dairy zones and stressed the need for one organisation to manage the sector and create measures to develop the industry.

The issue was raised by participants at the recent conference on Dairy Development Planning of Viet Nam till 2020, held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT). Despite recent growth of dairy herds, it has been predicted that domestic dairy producers will satisfy only 35 per cent of the local demand by 2020, thus continuing reliance on imports.

Head of the dairy farming development division at the FrieslandCampina Company Luu Van Tan stressed that dairy production projects must include sufficient land area.

Only 15 provinces and cities were allowed to raise milch cows under Prime Minister Decision 167 on dairy herd development planning. However, dairy cows are now raised in 33 localities, including some that do not have the proper qualifications, such as pastures and factories.

“Some provinces should not have developed their breeding sector, but they implemented projects to seek funds,” Tan said.

Tan also said that some provinces had better climates and training which created favourable conditions for raising dairy cattle, such as parts of the Central Highland provinces of Dak Lak and Lam Dong.

Le Duc Manh, director of the Institute of Food Industry under the ministry, wondered how to establish dairy zones while agricultural land area continued to be reduced.

“If we want to have sources of quality dairy, we must ensure there is sufficient nutrition available for the cows during all seasons. Straw is a good source of food for cows and it is not used by farmers. So, we can use technology to process straw into food for them,” Manh said.

The Government should develop policies to support dairy cow farmers, and provide them with information about breeding and maintaining food safety and hygiene, he added.

Statistics released by the ministry’s Institute for Industrial Policy and Strategy showed that 95 per cent of dairy cows were raised by small-scale farmers. They also revealed that the high rate of urbanisation had led to less area for dairy farms, keeping the farmers from developing their farms due to the lack of profit, Director of the ministry’s Light Industry Department Phan Chi Dung said.

Another issue that faced the development of the dairy industry was the sheer number of people involved, including breeders, processors, packagers and distributors, all managed by different authorities.

Tan said that the Ministry of Health was in charge of controlling food safety and hygiene, the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development was responsible for managing material development and MIT was tasked to manage import-export and distribution activities. The result was inconsistent management of the sector overall.

“It was the loose co-operation among authorities that resulted in low-quality dairy products,” deputy head of the Institute for Industrial Policy and Strategy Pham Van Liem said.

Currently, the country’s total dairy productivity just meets 22 per cent of the domestic demand.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam Dairy sector