Vietnamese farmers will flock into dairy cow raising after some local giant milk processors announced sharp increases in buying prices of fresh milk, according to an official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The painful lesson of catfish breeding might be repeated with milk cow farming if dairy prices kept rising, Hoang Kim Giao, Deputy Head of the Animal Husbandry Department under the MARD has warned.
One month ago, purchasing price of fresh milk increased to VND5,000 (31.2 US cents) from VND4,600 (28.8 US cents) per kilo and it now jumped to VND6,500 (40.6 US cents) per kilo.
Such price level is, in fact, lower than that offered in other regional countries. Thus, the higher fresh milk prices will bring opportunities to milk cow farming and enable local dairy industry to reach the target of meeting 40 per cent of domestic milk demand by 2010.
However, it would be risky if the price soared to an overly high level. If farmers can make profit of VND1,500-2,000 for every kilogram of fresh milk, they will rush to breed cows, even when they do not have good conditions. As a result, breed cows will become rare and the price will escalate.
Another risk is worse quality of milk by cows that may be overexploited and become exhausted if cows suffer diseases due to bad investment. Farmers may get profit in the first one or two months of breeding, but they will suffer as the milk output will decrease. Besides, the foodstuff for cattle will be seriously short.
Farmers throughout the country reportedly raised 113,000 dairy cows by August 1, last year. The figure is estimated to increase to 120,000-125,000 heads at the moment while the green fodder for cows can meet just 33-35 per cent of the need
With current fresh milk price hike trend, the total dairy cows may reach 150,000 heads by the end of this year, causing a possible shortage of breeding cows.
Only 55,000 of the existing 113,000 cows can reproduce, and they can give 42,000 calves. Half of the 42,000 calves are milk cows, and 30 per cent of the half will be wedded when they grow. As such, around 14,000-15,000 breeding cows can be provided every year only.
Giao said that his department was going to send dispatches to local departments under MARD to warn about the risk, and ask local authorities to pay special attention to their milk cow herd development program. (Vietnam Economic Times)
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