Facing the risk of 2.48 million pigs being difficult to sell due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province has just officially spoken out.

On the afternoon of July 22, responding to VTC News, Mr. Tran Lam Sinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province, said that the situation of 2.48 million pigs at risk of being "stuck" due to the epidemic has gradually improved with many positive measures.

The amount of pigs consumed per day is increasing

According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province, the total herd of pigs in the province is 2.48 million. The price of live pigs at households and farms ranges from 53,000 - 56,000 VND/kg, the current price of live pigs is still on a downward trend due to the impact of the epidemic.

In June 2021, the amount of pork supplied daily by Dong Nai province to the Dong Nai market was 15%, Ho Chi Minh City 45%, the remaining 40% was consumed in other provinces.

According to Mr. Sinh, to ensure output for 2.48 million pigs, the authorities have promoted the cooperation structure with enterprises and cooperatives to collect livestock products for consumption by the people.

"Dong Nai province has continuously connected with Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities for consumption. Regarding transportation, the authorities have tried to open a "green channel" to facilitate workers and drivers to transport pork to the consumption location in time," said Mr. Sinh.

A pig farm in Dong Nai province.

Mr. Sinh added that current consumption has a combination of many outputs. For the Ho Chi Minh City market, the important thing is to take advantage of old consumption channels from wholesale markets. Now that wholesale markets cannot be opened as before, they are sold in a mobile form that has been permitted by the authorities.

"In addition to the Ho Chi Minh City market, Dong Nai also cooperates with a number of other provinces and cities to help farmers consume pork. In addition, right in Dong Nai province, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has strengthened its links with the Livestock Association. In this Association, there are many cooperatives that own supply-demand connections with large enterprises, which partly helps the province reduce the pressure on pork consumption. Regarding meat preservation, we have mobilized cold storage facilities in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Binh Duong to store meat after slaughter," said Mr. Sinh.

According to Mr. Sinh, currently, the authorities support people to consume more than 8,900 pigs/day. Compared to the time before social distancing, the output of live pigs supplied to the market increased by 7%. Specifically, in June 2021, the output of live pigs supplied to the market each day was only 8,320 pigs.

Rescuing the entire flock of chickens

In addition to pork consumption, the Dong Nai province of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is also helping people consume more livestock products such as beef and chicken. The province's chicken herd currently needs to consume about 24.5 million chickens.

"The output of chicken meat supplied during the current period of social distancing is 75,954 chickens/day. While in June 2021, the chickens supplied to the market reached 119,980 chickens/day, the chicken output decreased by 37%. Currently, the province is consolidating about 30,000 - 40,000 chickens/day each day. Because of this, the selling price of chicken products has decreased, causing farmers to suffer losses," said Mr. Sinh.

According to Mr. Sinh, in the coming time, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province will propose to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to implement appropriate solutions to promote the consumption of agricultural products in epidemic areas in order to quickly bring agricultural products to people in need. At the same time, it will limit the imbalance of local supply and demand, and increase prices for profit during the period of blockade of wholesale markets and traditional markets.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Nai province also proposed to local authorities at all levels to reopen some traditional markets to meet the food needs of consumers. However, the reopening of traditional markets must meet the requirements of COVID-19 prevention.