Pig farming industry has been suffering losses for a long time.

Dong Nai Livestock Association has just sent an urgent document to the Prime Minister on preventing, detecting and strictly handling cases of illegal trading and transportation of pigs across the border into Vietnam. Lao Dong Newspaper reporter interviewed Mr. Nguyen Tri Cong - Chairman of Dong Nai Livestock Association about the reason for this request.

Sir! Why does Dong Nai Livestock Association have to send an urgent petition to the Prime Minister?

- In fact, as the Dong Nai Livestock Association (Association), we have also made many recommendations to remove difficulties for the livestock industry.

In early 2023, we sent a letter to the leaders of the State Bank, expressing our wish to remove difficulties for livestock farmers due to increased prices of animal feed ingredients, pork prices below production costs, African swine fever...

Just recently, we sent an urgent dispatch to the Prime Minister regarding the prevention, detection and strict handling of cases of illegal trading and transportation of pigs across the border into Vietnam, because this is no longer a problem within the scope of a single province but a nationwide and very urgent issue.

The Association saw the need to do so and made recommendations to protect livestock farmers in Dong Nai and the whole country.

According to many sources, the Association has learned that due to the Lunar New Year, domestic consumption demand is increasing, so the situation of smuggled pigs continues to increase dramatically: During the weeks from January 1-15, 2024, on average, each night there are about 6,000 - 7,000 pigs from Cambodia smuggled into Vietnam through a number of border gates in the provinces of the Southeast and the Southwest border. According to calculations, the number of smuggled pigs accounts for about 30% of domestic livestock production sold each day.

According to the Association, how does the situation of smuggled pigs affect Dong Nai pig farmers as well as domestic consumers?

- With the selling price fluctuating around only 50,000 VND/kg of live pigs, the profit from smuggled pigs is causing domestic farmers to face numerous difficulties, forcing them to sell below production cost.

Farmers are also afraid that if smuggled pigs are not controlled, it will cause the risk of spreading disease. In the country, when we export pigs, there is strict control by veterinary agencies, pigs are vaccinated and have clear origins.

In addition, smuggled pork is difficult to control in quality, which will affect consumers. In the future, competition from smuggled pork will seriously affect the total pig herd, causing a shortage of domestic supply.

Waiting for price boost from Lunar New Year to have capital for re-production

Can you elaborate on the difficulties that the pig farming industry in Dong Nai is currently facing?

- During the past time, the domestic livestock industry has been under a lot of pressure from the epidemic... Production below cost is at a loss, even many farms or livestock households have had to reduce their herds or stop production, but they still strive to overcome difficulties to contribute and supply many safe food products to society, create jobs for farmers, contribute to social security and essential foods.

The problem now is price! For a long time, farmers have had to sell pigs below production cost. Specifically, the cost of raising pigs has been around 55,000 VND/kg of live pigs, but for a long time it has only fluctuated at 48,000-50,000 VND/kg of live pigs. Thus, raising a pig, farmers are suffering a loss of 5,000-7,000 VND/kg of live pigs.

In the current situation, with the livestock industry, continuous production below cost, low purchasing power combined with the situation of smuggled pigs will "knock out" the livestock industry very quickly.

Currently, it is also very difficult for livestock farmers to borrow money from banks to continue to support themselves because to borrow money, they must have collateral and a profitable business...

Therefore, the Association hopes that the situation of smuggled pigs must be strictly controlled, creating a domestic supply of clean and safe food.

How do livestock farmers expect a price boost from the 2024 Lunar New Year, sir?

- In recent days, the average price of live pigs has shown signs of increasing from 52,000 VND to 53,000 VND per kg of live pigs, but it is still at a loss because it is still below the production cost. Therefore, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2024, Dong Nai pig farmers expect the price of live pigs to reach 60,000 VND per kg of live pigs so that pig farmers have a little more capital to restore production. The price of 60,000 VND per kg of live pigs is an acceptable level in the current market, although in previous years it could reach 85,000 VND per kg of live pigs.