Developing an Agricultural Research
and Development Priority
Framework
for Vietnam
Livestock Sub-Sector Workshop
Data and Information Sheets:
Areas of Research & Development
Opportunity (ARDOs)
ARDO 1. Large Animals
ARDO 2. Small Ruminant Animals
ARDO 3. Pig Production
ARDO 4. Poultry
ARDO 5. Productive Insects
ARDO 6. Veterinary Vaccines & Animal Remedies
ARDO 7. Animal Feed Processing & Conservation
December 2007
Livestock Priority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
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ARDO 1: LARGE ANIMALS
1.1 National Goal
To increase the contribution of domestic production to overall domestic demands
through the intensification of beef, dairy and buffalo production in regions with
comparative advantages to produce high quality and high value products, create
employment in production and processing industries and improving income and
livelihoods of farmers. Production Targets are:
 Buffalo: 3.07 million head by 2010 and 3.23 million by 2015; buffalo meat
production 72.000 tones by 2010 and 88.000 tones by year 2015.
 Beef: 7.1 million head by 2010 and 9 million by 2015; meat production 210,000
tones by 2010 and 310,000 tones by 2015.
 Milk: 200,000 head by 2010 and 350,000 by 2015; fresh milk production 350,000
tones by 2010 and 670,000 tones by 2015. The dairy industry sets the target of

has been implementing a number of research projects and programs to improve the
quality of beef and dairy cattle breeds. However, the quality of beef and dairy cattle
breeds is still poor which results in beef and dairy production systems with a low
productivity and hence profitability.
In a production system, improving productivity and quality of meat or milk products is
closely related to profitability and sustainability of the system. However, in order to
achieve the target of producing foods of quality, hygiene and safety in the small
household-based system, it requires adequate investments of both finance and
technology.
2.2. Industry Characteristics and Prospects
2.2.1 Animal Populations
Buffalo
Table 1. Buffalo Population (2001-2006) Unit: 1000 head
Location 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Whole country 2,807.8 2,814.4 2,834.9 2,869.8 2,922.1 2,921.1
Red River delta 136.9 125.8 164.9 154.6 145.9 120.6
North East 1,263.7 1,267.7 1,224.1 1,213.1 1,226.4 1,237.7
North West 381.2 390.3 399.3 437.8 453.1 465.1
North Central Coast 685.4 689.3 706.9 719,4 743.4 737.7
South Central Coast 127.8 129.8 136.9 134.4 139.5 156.5
Central Highlands 47.4 47.6 65.9 68.7 71.9 79.0
South East 125.2 126.4 106 105.4 103.3 85.6
Mekong River Delta 40.2 37.2 35.8 36.4 38.8 37.8
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, MARD (2006)
 Over the last 6 years, the total buffalo population increased 4%; however, there was a
slight decline in some zones while increased in the others.
 The percentage of the buffalo population in each region is North East (42%), North
Central Coast (25%), North West (16%), South Central Coast (5%), Red River Delta
(4%), South East (3%), Central Highlands (3%), and Mekong River Delta (1%).
Beef Cattle

herds in these two zones in 2006 were 5325 and 3261 heads, respectively.
 The dairy herd in Mekong River Delta had increased by approximately 5.7 times
during the 201-2006 period
 According to the statistics the increase in the dairy herd was greatest during the 2002
to 2004 period as provinces and/or cities issued policies to promote dairy production.
However, this resulted in a high demand for dairy cows which in turn created a
bubble in price of breeding animals.
 The subsequent rush into crossbreeding between improved native cows and HF
semen (with a poor selection of the cows) had resulted in dairy herds with low
performance.
 In addition, several companies had imported pure HF and Jersey cows from America,
Australia, and New Zealand, with a poor consideration on the animal’s performance
and adaptability, to sell to provinces and/or cities. Many among these provinces did
not meet the minimum condition required for raising such dairy breeds, yet rushed
into the industry. Consequently, the dairy herd had a low milk yield and reproduction
rate, and hence a low economical efficiency.
 During 2004 to 2006 period, the dairy herd increased at a rate of approximately 8.7%
per annum and this better reflected the actual capacity of Vietnam in developing the
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dairy industry. This population growth rate will create favourable conditions for a
deeper selection program of dairy breeding cows and hence a more profitable and
sustainable industry.
 Most dairy cows are in the South East (66%) and Red River Delta (21%) zones, and
these two areas are also the two main economic centres of Vietnam and the major
markets for dairy products. Therefore processing facilities for milk and dairy
products are mainly located in these areas.
 Dairy production has tended to be established in areas that have a large market and
processing facilities for milk and dairy products and some areas that have a potential
for dairy production such as Central Highlands, North West and North East regions

Dairy Cattle
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Table 5. Breakdown of dairy breeds
Breed
Region
1/2HF 3/4HF >3/4HF Pure
imported
Whole country (heads) 25,826 27,948 36,798 16,437
Whole country (% of total) 24.2 26.1 34.4 15.4
The North (heads) 10,231 6,061 2,963 11,116
The North (% of total) 33.7 20.0 9.8 36.6
The South (heads) 15,631 21,887 33,835 5,321
The South (% of total) 20.4 28.5 44.1 6.9
Source: National Dairy Development Project (2005)
 85% of the dairy herd are crossbred Holstein Friesian (HF) with just over 60% of
crossbreds being ¾ HF.
 Pure dairy breeds imported to Vietnam such as HF and Jersey are kept mostly in Moc
Chau, Lam Dong, Thanh Hoa, and Tuyen Quang provinces.
 The total number of imported dairy cattle in 2002 to 2004 is 10,000 cows.
 Apart from provinces with a long tradition of raising pure HF cattle, some provinces
with relatively hot climate such as Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City are now raising
such animals. The milk yield of the pure HF cows in these provinces, however, is
lower and averaging approximately 80-85% of those animals raised in such
temperate climates as Moc Chau and Lam Dong.
 Crossbred animals with a lower HF blood percentage withstand the poor feeding
condition and heat stress better than those with higher blood and/or imported pure
breeds.
2.2.3. Production
Meat Production

beef produced annually still accounts for only a small proportion (4.6-5.2%) of the
total meat produced. The potential for beef domestic market is large.
Buffalo
 Buffalo have been kept mainly for draught, meat is product of old (culled) or thin
ones. They were slaughtered without fattening, the meat percentages were low and
the quality was not good.
Table 7. Buffalo meat production in different zones (2002-2006) Unit: 1,000 kg
Location 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Whole country 51,380 51,811 53,061 57,457 59,800 64,317
Red River delta 3,709 4,107 4,675 5,223 5,239 5,990
North East 18,444 19,101 17,562 19,028 19,884 19,449
North West 5,106 5,230 6,139 6,284 6,919 7,554
North Central Coast 8,168 8,816 10,077 11,675 12,726 13,794
South Central Coast 2,147 2,016 2,225 2,380 3,246 3,377
Central Highlands 1,227 2,288 2,441 2,211 1,948 1,899
South East 8,732 8,720 8,022 8,829 8,117 10,478
Mekong River Delta 3,847 1,533 1,920 1,826 1,718 1,724
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, MARD (2006)
 Buffalo meat has increased each year with a 25% increase over 6 years (av 4%/year).
Livestock Priority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
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Table 8. Meat percentages of local swamp buffalo
Items Unit Old buffalo
(culled)
Young buffalo
(24 months of
age)
Body weight kg 327 194
Dressing weight kg 127.8 85.8
Dressing percentage % 39 44.3

Pure
Zebu
cattle
Birth weight Kg 14 20.1 22 23 27
Weight at 6 months
old
Kg 63.7 97.5 105 107.5 140
Weight at 12 months
old
Kg 85 140 160 165 215
Weight at 24 months
old
Kg 140 200 220 230 350
Mature weight Kg 180 250 280 290 450
Carcass percentage (in
liveweight)
% 44.2 49.6 49.5 50 55
Source: Department of Animal Husbandry, MARD (2005)
 The growth rate and carcass percentage of crossbred animals is higher than Yellow
cattle. The mature weight and carcass percentage of these groups is 38.8 to 61.1%
and 5.3 to 5.8% higher than those parameters of the Yellow breed. Crossbred cows
Livestock Priority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
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have been further crossbred with bulls of high carcass-weight-potential and this is
contributing to the improvement of both quality and productivity of the beef cattle in
Vietnam.
Dairy Production
Table 11. Changes in number and production of the dairy herd and milk
production per capita (2000-2006)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

by low and medium income consumers.
 In the top markets such as hotels, restaurants, and big supermarkets, imported beef
accounts for the majority even though the price is always higher (2.5 to 3 times) than
the local products.
 Milk produced by the dairy industry in Vietnam is approximately 30% of the demand
since the average milk consumption in the year 2000 was 5.2 kg per capita and in
2005 7.9 kg while milk produced in 2005 was only 2.38 kg per capita.
 Farm gate price for high quality fresh milk is 4500 VND/kg. The comparative price
for reconstituted milk (including import tax and VAT) is 4760 VND/kg (excluding
freight).
2.4. Comparative Advantage
 According to FAO assessment, the trend of animal production in the world towards
2020 is that production of animal products will be moving from developed to
developing countries. It is expected that Asia will become the biggest animal
production continent.
 Because of the low level of production of meat and milk, compared with domestic
demand there is a large domestic market to be developed.
 The Vietnamese farmer has a saying “take your labour as your business profit” the
price of animal products is relatively flexible and hence very competitive.
 The milk yield of dairy cows in Vietnam is comparable to that of dairy cattle in other
countries in South East Asia such as Thailand (3.2 tones/lactation) and Indonesia (3.1
tones/lactation).
 Cattle can use agro-industrial by-products and small and poor quality grasslands and
farmers consider cattle production a business with minimum daily investment and
often lower risk as compared with other animals.
 Membership of WTO is likely to increase competition from imported beef meat and
dairy products with many competing countries having lower costs per kg of
production and higher quality standards.
2.5. Government Policies
 Decision 167/2001/QĐ –TTg issued by the Prime Minister stating policies and

(68.74%). Farms raising beef cattle often cultivate other crops in order to effectively
exploit by-products of such crops as roughage source for the animal.
 The total number of dairy farms is 19,639 (average 5.3 head/household), of which
12,626 farms (64.3%) are located in the South (6.3 head/household) and 7,013 farms
(35.7%) in the North (3.7 head/household). The number of farms having 1-5 heads is
17,676 (90% of the total) but the size of dairy herds in the households is changing
towards increasing the number of households with 5 to 10 cows and decreasing the
those with less than 5 animals.
Table 4. Breakdown by size of the number of cattle farm in Vietnam (2006
Data)
 92% of beef herds are under 200 head and 96% of dairy herds are below 50 head.
 The number of farms having more than 500 head is very low (0.31% for beef and
0.06% for dairy cattle). Thus the size of both beef and dairy farms is small and need
to be enlarged if the cattle production is to become an industry producing market
oriented beef and dairy products with high quality. The size appropriate for
producing market oriented commodities will allow profitable investment into and
application of advanced technologies in the farm.
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3.2. Supporting Infrastructure
 Moncada breeding bull centre: the centre built in 1972 and upgraded recently (JICA
project 2001-2005) now applies the Japanese procedure for production of bovine
semen straws.
 AI system established in 1972 (Cuba assistance) to provide AI services to cows in
provinces and/or cities through out the country. At present, most dairy cattle are
served by AI but beef cattle in a much smaller scale.
 A number of pure breeding companies for beef cattle in Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh
Hoa, Son La and Tuyen Quang provinces.
 Four pure breeding companies for dairy cattle in Moc Chau, Lam Dong, Thanh Hoa
and Tuyen Quang provinces.

 Tabulation of nutrient requirements at different ages, body weight and production
rates. Consolidation of feed tables for dairy and beef cattle and buffalo.
 Development and application of new and/or modified techniques for better
production, processing and utilization of roughage and supplement sources, better
feeding practices, herd management and healthcare.
 Establishment of large scale and medium size of intensive buffalo, beef and dairy
farms to enhance the producing of commercial buffalo meat with bigger amount to
meet domestic consumption and exportation in future.
 Research projects on feeds and nutrition, animal production and animal health, and
projects which aim to (1) improve breed quality of beef and dairy cattle; (2) upgrade
research facilities; (3) educate and train extension workers and farmers.
 Implementation of research activities on market and marketing systems to develop
appropriate strategies for production and sale of beef and dairy products.
 Application of advanced technologies such as embryo splitting, embryo transferring,
molecular genetics technique and traditional methods into selection and creation of
new beef and dairy breeds with higher yield and quality potential.
4.2. Major Research Providers
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)
 National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH)
 Centre for Livestock Research and Development in Mountainous Area,
 Centres for Research and Transferring Advanced Technologies for Livestock
Production in Ho Chi Minh city and Central Coast Region
 Ba Vi Cattle and Forage Research Centre.
 Southern Institute for Agricultural Science and Technology
 Tay Nguyen Scientific Institute for Agriculture and Forestry in DakLak province.
 Northern and Mountainous Institute for Agriculture and Forestry Studies in Phu Tho
province
 National Institute of Veterinary and Medicine
Agricultural Universities including
 Hanoi Agricultural University

weights higher by about 20%. After fattening, the buffaloes were slaughtered at 24
months of age and slaughter weights and meat percentages of crossbred F1 were
higher than local swamp buffalo. Compared with young swamp buffaloes at 24
months of age, the crossbred F1 increased about 50% in quantity of meat.
 Use of locally available feed resources such as cassava root meal, cassava leaves,
leucaena leaf meal, molasses, urea-treated rice straw and ensiled maize stover, for
fattening young buffalo (18 to 21 months of age). For buffaloes with body weight of
approximately 200 kg, the ration was about 5.5 to 6 kg of dry matter, in which 20-
25% was from concentrate and 75-80% from roughage. The feed supplied 500-600g
crude protein and 50-55MJ metabolisable energy. After 2 months of fattening, body
weight gain was 500 to 700 g/day, and the dressing percentage and lean meat content
were also increased.
Beef and Dairy
 Improvement of liveweight and carcass percentage of Yellow cattle. Crossbreeding
between Native cows and Zebu bulls showed F
1
crossbred animals were 35-40%
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heavier in liveweight, 5-8% higher in carcass percentage (carcass weight/liveweight),
and 3-5% higher in lean meat percentage (lean meat weight/liveweight).
 Crossbreeding to create beef specialized cattle. Investigation of beef quality and
productivity of crossbred animals born from improved cows inseminated with semen
of Bos indicus and Bos Taurus meat specialized bulls. Results showed that progeny
resulting from crossbreeding between improved native cows and Brahman, Brangus,
Limousine, Santa Gertrudis, Charolais, and Simental semen had higher growth rates,
heavier live and carcass weights and higher beef quality than those of Yellow or
LaiSind cattle. The result also indicated that F
1
Charolais x Lasind crossbred animals

15
5. SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths Weaknesses
 Monsoon climate is favourable for growth of
grass and fodder trees for cattle, especially in
the rainy season.
 Agro-industrial by-products are abundant and
can be a valuable source of feed for cattle.
 Native and crossbred cattle and swamp
buffalo are well adapted to geographic and
climatic conditions.
 Abundant labour force in rural areas with a
high proportion literacy will assist in transfer
of advanced technologies into cattle
production systems.
 Strong Government support for development
of beef and dairy industries and credits and/or
loans for development of cattle production are
available and easy to obtain.
 International Organizations also provide
active support for household based cattle
production development projects.
 There is a huge and stable domestic market
for beef and dairy products.
 Buffalo are main source of draught power for
land preparation and transportation in the rural
area, and supply a huge amount of fresh organic
manure for cultivation.
 The mechanization process has been
developed, the role of supplying draught

collectors and processors.
 There is no certified agency for grading and
ratifying beef quality and thus the difference in
price between high and medium quality beef is
very marginal.
 The national system for quality control of milk
and dairy products is relatively poor.
Opportunities Threats
 There is a huge potential for development of
the domestic market for beef and buffalo meat
and dairy products.
 Major research opportunities in development
of more productive feed management systems
involving conservation and storage to
overcome problems in the dry season
 Improved production through development of
larger and more intensively managed herd of
 Competitiveness of beef and dairy industries in
Vietnam is low due in part to their small scale.
 Vietnam entry into WTO and reduction of
import tax for animal products will increase
competition in the domestic market from
imports.
 Disease, particularly FMD will have impacts
on production and the movement of animals
Livestock Priority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
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beef and dairy cattle.
 Improvements in the health and husbandry
systems through development of on-farm

Development of small-scale meat and milk processing practices that ensure food quality
and safety and development of appropriate supply chains for marking small volumes of
product; (vi) Development of financial model for herd production systems to optimise
returns.
1.3 Coverage
 Domestic breeds: Goats Co(Co), Bach Thao (BT)
Sheep: Phan Rang
 Exotic breeds: Goats: Barbari (Ba), Jumnapari (Jum), Beetal (Be), Boer (Bo),
Alpine (Alp), Saanen (Sa)
Sheep: Dorper, Suffolk
 Cross-breeds: Bach Thao*Co (BTCo); Boer*Bachthao (Bo*BT);
Boer*Jumnapari (Bo*Jum); Boer* Beetal (Bo*Be)
Targets
 By 2010 need to achieve, 4.2m head producing 1.26m tons milk and 25.36m tons
goat/lamb meat. Small ruminant production to be considered “organic meat” for
human consumption
2. INDUSTRY STATISTICS
2.1 Introduction
Small ruminant production is based on smallholder production (about 90%) with a focus
on food production for human consumption. Production is suitable for poor farmers, in
areas where it is difficult to grow cash crops and production systems do not require high
investment, labour cost is low and cash flow is generated early in newly established
herds. It is a much lower risk from of livestock production compared with large
animals. The industry is based on small herd sizes, reliance on extensive grazing and
feeding systems and consequently has low productivity and low quality product
produced. . At present, there are 5 zones that can supply breeding goats with dairy and
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meat production. Sheep were also imported from Australia (Dorper and White Suffolk
breeds) but the number is low (60).

consist of 45% of total herds in 2010 and 50% for year 2015.
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Breeds
Breeds Number in 2005 % of total population
Goat breeds
1 Co 618,862 49.21
2 Bach Thao 165,000 13.12
3 Indian breeds 20,000 1.59
4 Boer 1500 0.12
5 Saanen 1000 0.08
6 Alpine 1000 0.08
7 Crosses 450,000 35.79
Total 1,257,362 100
Sheep breeds
1 Phan Rang 51,767 91.10
2 Australian sheep 60 0.10
3 Other local sheep 5000 8.79
Total 56,827 100
 Local goat breeds are Co and Bach Thao. In 1990s, the exotic breeds were imported
from India (Jumnapari, Barbari and Beetal). They adapted well to local conditions and
were used to cross with local goats to improve the productivities as multi-purpose goats.
The crosses are adapted very well and shown good performance in milk and meat
production.
 Three other specialized breeds Boer, Saanen, Alpine were imported from United States
of America. They were also adapted well to local conditions. The crosses with local
goats were also shown good performance in milk, meat or milk and meat production.
 There are 5 breeding areas in the country: Ha Tay-Hoa Binh produced dairy-meat
breeds; Thanh Hoa-Ninh Binh produced meat breeds; Ninh Thuan-Binh Dinh is
dairy-meat breeding area; Song Be-Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City- Binh Phuoc is

females.
 Target meat production is, 25.360 tons in 2010 and 42.604 tons in 2015.
Milk Production
 Both population of and milk produced by dairy goats increased 3 times over the
2001-2005 period.
 Milk production remains low. In 2001 total milk production in whole country was
estimated an amount of 115 tons/year and reached to 319 tons/year in 2005.
 Average milk per person per year is too small, only 0.001 litter/person/year (in 2001)
and 0.004 litter/person/year (in 2005). Price of milk is high as the cost of breeding
stock is high. There are 2 provinces, Ha Tay and Ho Chi Minh City, where dairy goat
raising for the commodity milk but the yield is not high as breed’s potential
 The income from dairy goats could achieve 7-8 million VND/year, milking 3
does/farm all year.
Dairy goat population and milk production
Province
Ha Tay Ho Chi Minh City
2001 2003 2005 2001 2003 2005
Goat population 5.900 6.704 9.754 1.026 2.476 9.384
Dairy goat population (pure
+cross) (head)
2997 3405 4954 521 1258 4766
Reproduction dairy goats (head) 1199 1362 1982 208 503 1906
Pegnancy does yearly (head) 1019 1158 1684 144 428 1620
Milk production yearly (kg) 98.573 112.006 162.964 17.142 41.367 156.782
Total milk production in the country (From Ha Tay and HCM city)
Year 2001 2003 2005
Total milk production (kg) 115,715 153,374 319,746
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Average milk consumed per person/year

- First kidding age (days
-
Kidding intervals (days)
- Litter size in average
(kid/litter)
- Single born rate, %
- Twinborn and over rate, %
Feed conversion efficiency
(kg DM/kg gain) from birth
to 9 month
2.49-2.84
-
18.3-22.6
29.2-40.0
42.8
30.0
1.51
148
346
217
2.09
26.5
73.5
4.49
1.76-1.92
-
9.2-10.25
16.1-19.1
45.8
33.4

250
281
1.55
37.2
62.8
6.07
2.9-3.5
10.7-13.2
17.4-20.9
25.8-35.6
47.8
30.6
2.1
179
401
316
1.39
69.7
30.3
6.89
3.4-3.9
11.7-13.1
17.6-19.5
24.2-34.2
46.0
28.7
1.9
186
435
312

-
6.71
2.58 -
3.12
11.6 -
13.7
15.2 -
22.9
26.4 -
32.5
-
-
2.4 - 2.7
250 - 280
467
336
1.60
-
-
6.55
Sheep breed
Phan Giang
Phan Rang sheep belong thin-short tail group, the age of first oestrus is at 7-8 month of age, the oestrus cy
cle
ranges from 18 to 21 days, Pregnant time is 5 months, body weigh at born is about 1.8-
2.4 kg, body weight of
mutual ewes range from 39 to 41 kg and lambs/rams is 43 to 50 kg.
Value and Markets
 Goat and sheep meat and milk is all sold in the domestic market.
 In 1996, the live goat price was 8000 VND per kg, in 2003 was up to 23,000 VND

National Institute of Animal Husbandry,
 Decision No of 2903 QD/BNN-KH on September 22nd, 2004 by MARD for
establishment and operation of a Sub-Research Centre for Breeding Goats and Sheep
in Ninh Thuan and setting up a project of developing goat and sheep breeds under the
program of animal breeds 2006-2010
3 Industry Analysis
3.1 Structure
Households and Size of Holdings
 Goats and Sheep have been kept extensively by small farmers. There is no
information on the number of farms keeping goat and sheep. At present, there are
some state farms keeping breeding goats and sheep.
 Herd size ranges from 10-20 heads in most of goat farms in the North. About 10% of
goat farms have herd size of 30-50 head found in Ha Giang, Nghe An, Hoa Binh and
Ninh Binh. Larger herd size (50-75 head) is located in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan
accounts 63-75% and very big herds of goat and sheep exist in these regions.
 Goat and sheep production in Vietnam is based on small farms and extensive farming
systems. In most small-holder systems, goats are either grazed around the house and
road sides or taken to grazing commons during the day, then housed at night. In this
Livestock Priority Workshop. Data & Information Sheets
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case, the quality and quantity of feed available will vary with the incidence and
intensity of rainfall, and with the distance of the grazing reserves from the village.
 Goat/sheep farmers usually use only one male for mating for many generations, with
ratios of 1 male/50 females for sheep and 1/20-60 for goats.
 High livestock prices mean that most does and ewes are kept for breeding without
selection, resulting in relatively low quality of breeds and the likelihood of
inbreeding.
 There are no larger scale improvement programs based on open nuclear breed herd
Animal Health Status
 Goats are often infected by endemic diseases of national and international

24
 Local materials mainly used for making small ruminant houses. Cost for
construction is low, but housing standard is not good enough to ensure animal health.
 Animal housing is generally small and unhygienic due to lack of capital and land. As
the result, the pen becomes muddy and crowded causing worm infection and other
diseases for animals. High humidity combining with under nutrition promotes the
multiplication of various disease-causing organisms and deaths in cold or rainy
seasons.
3.2 Supporting Infrastructure
Veterinary Services
 A grassroot veterinary network operates over the whole country but the availability
and capacity is insufficient for working with villages in the mountainous areas.
 There is a lack of veterinary medicines (quantity and quality) and disease prevention
and management practices and adoption of animal housing hygiene to prevent the
diseases for animal are not of a high standard.
 Inoculation against disease epidemics is not fully implemented with only 30-35% of
animals vaccinated. More importantly, outbreaks of diseases such as goat pox
occurred and are recurrent in many goat farms in Centre Region
 Vaccine availability and poor vaccination practices limit the success in prevention of
infectious diseases.
 In recent years initiatives to control the diseases for goats and sheep such as pink eye
disease, mastitis, and parasitic diseases have been developed by to date these have
only been applied in national units, research centre, or some demonstrations
supported by Government
Processing
 Small scale Technologies on collecting, preserving and processing goat milk into the
cheese has been introduced to Vietnam. Goat cheese, at present, is a high quality
product. This product is processed and consumed in the country at a competitive
price with the world market.
 80 demonstration farms collecting the goat milk for processing were established at