A chicken farm in Chương Mỹ District, Hà Nội. The livestock industry estimates a growth of 2.6 per cent in poultry herds to 558.6 million units this year. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s livestock industry set a production growth target of 4-5 per cent in 2024 and is expected to make up 28-30 per cent of the country’s agricultural production.

These goals were announced at a meeting held on Tuesday in Hà Nội by the Department of Livestock Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to review its performance in 2023 and deploy its plans for 2024.

According to the department, the production of meat is expected to reach about 7.98 million tonnes in 2024 with a year-on-year increase of 3.8 per cent including over 4.87 million tonnes of pork (up 4 per cent) and over 2.31 million tonnes of poultry meat (up 3.1 per cent).

Meanwhile, the output of eggs is expected to surge by 3.7 per cent year-on-year to about 19.68 billion, and milk production is hope to hit 1.28 million tonnes, up 6.7 per cent.

In addition, it is expected that Việt Nam will produce 25,800 tonnes of honey next year and over 20.5 million tonnes of industrial feeds, an increase of 9.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, compared with the figures in 2023.

To this end, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phùng Đức Tiến asked agencies and localities to continue implementing restructuring plans in the industry, pay more attention to the market’s demands, promote advantages of specific production areas, and key animals, increase production efficiency, and boost sustainable development.

Tiến also requested that the livestock sector urgently implement solutions to stabilise and develop poultry farming and grass-fed cattle to meet the demand for essential foods like meat, eggs, and milk.

They also need to mobilise resources for Vietnamese livestock products to better access markets, thus increasing the export of potential products.

At the conference, Phạm Kim Đăng, deputy director of the Department of Livestock Production, said that the production of the livestock industry in the past months still maintained stably, despite an increase in animal feed prices and unstable prices of livestock products as well as competition from imported products and smuggling products. Animal diseases were also controlled well.

According to the department, the total heads of pigs in 2023 is estimated to reach 30.3 million, an increase of 4.2 per cent over the same period in 2022. It also estimates a growth of 2.6 per cent and 1 per cent to 558.6 million units for the poultry herd and 6.4 million units for the cow herd, respectively. But it reduced by 1 per cent to 2.2 million buffalo.

It is estimated that in 2023, the total output of meat of all kinds will reach over 7.6 million tonnes, an increase of 3.5 per cent, including 4.68 million tonnes of pork; 2.24 million tonnes of poultry meat; 4.68 million tonnes of buffalo meat, 630,000 tonnes of beef and about 50,000 tonnes of goat and sheep.

The industry is estimated to have an output of 18.98 billion eggs, an increase of 3.9 per cent and 1.2 million tonnes of fresh milk, an increase of 7.2 per cent compared to 2022.

However, according to Đăng, the livestock industry in the past years still did not carry out a synchronous and effective production model under the value chain (farm to fork).

Biosecurity, disease control, food safety and livestock environmental management have not yet met requirements.

The livestock industry will continue to coordinate with the Department of Animal Health and relevant agencies in implementing disease prevention for animals.

At the same time, the livestock industry strengthens to closely monitor developments in supply and prices of material for producing animal feed at home and abroad markets.

That will help the industry have measures in a timely manner to minimise the impact on livestock production and ensure animal feed quality, he said. — VNS