Poultry farmers struggle amid bird flu fears

09:05, 05/05/2013

 

Domestic poultry farmers are struggling after news of the A/H7N9 bird flu virus in China and the H5N1 strain in some localities hit local demand.

 

 

 

Domestic poultry farmers are struggling after news of the A/H7N9 bird flu virus in China and the H5N1 strain in some localities hit local demand.

According to Nguyen Tri Cong, chairman of the Dong Nai Livestock Association, the province had about 1.1 million pigs and 10 million chickens, and was among the provinces with the highest number of large-scale livestock facilities, but many firms were selling up, he said.

Nguyen Xuan Duong, acting head of the Department of Livestock Production, said Viet Nam had about 4 million households that raised pigs and 7.5 million with poultry, calling for more support for households to develop sustainable production that could handle such market fluctuations.

Officials have suggested ways to reduce the cost of production such as mixing feed for cattle and poultry to reduce costs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is looking at relevant agencies, people’s committees and slaughterhouses to increase quarantine and preventative measures.At least 119 patients in the country have tested positive for different strains of flu so far this year, according to the national flu supervision report.

(Source: VNS)