April 23, 2013
Soaring feed prices greatly affect Vietnam farms
Withhigh animal feed prices of about 15-20% higher than in China, Thailand and Indonesia,Vietnam farms and husbandry households are experiencing financial losses, according to the Vietnam Animal Feed Association (VAFA).
Feed prices for pigs, for example, have risen from VND11,000 (US$0.53) a kilogramme to VND12,500 (US$0.60) a kilogramme over the past 12 months. Prices for raw materials used for feed, such as corn, rice bran and fish flour, are also expected to be on a continual rise.
Last year, Vietnam imported US$3 billion worth of raw materials to produce animal feed, including soy, corn and meat flour. VAFA has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop plans for the production of raw materials to make animal feed. It has also petitioned the government to offer loans and preferential tax rates for the animal-feed industry.
According to Vu Trong Binh, deputy head of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, the country currently has no production zones for animal
feed.
As prices for feed climb, many farmers are switching to other jobs. A farmer in south-eastern Tay Ninh Province said he had to stop raising pigs for two months because of high feed prices. Other households in the area were also planning to quit raising pigs, he said.
Elsewhere in southern Dong Nai Province, the country''s largest chicken producer, the price of chicken has fallen below production costs. Tam Hoang chicken now sells for VND38,000-40,000 (US$1.82-1.91) a kilogramme, down VND10,000-12,000 (US$0.48-0.57) against early February.
Nguyen Tri Cong, chairman of the Dong Nai Animal Husbandry Association, said poultry and animal-raising households and farms were suffering severe losses, especially those with bank loans.
Big farms that typically sell about 10,000-20,000 Tam Hoang chicken a day are losing about VND30-40 million (US$1,435-1,913) daily, he said.
Similarly, the price of tra fish in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, the country''s largest tra fish producer, has fallen to its lowest price over the last 12 months. Farmers are losing about VND2,000-3,000 (US$0.10-0.14) for each kilogramme of tra fish. Although the tra fish season has begun, many farmers plan to quit raising fish.
Southern Dong Thap province has more than 1,600 hectares of tra fish ponds, but only 30-40% has been shifted to other purposes. Some have been left abandoned. About 50% of farmers in the Mekong Delta''s An Giang province, which has 1,300 hectares of tra fish ponds, plan to abandon their ponds or reduce the scale of cultivation.
An Giang harvested 18,000 tonnes of tra fish in the first two months of this year, down 30% against the same period last year.