Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Phung Duc Tien said Vietnam’s dairy cow farming is growing witha total turnover of 109 trillion VND (4.73 billion USD) last year. The countrynow ranks sixth in Asia in terms of milk output, and fourth in terms of dairycow productivity.
Its milk and dairy products are popular at home and abroad,especially in China and the Middle East.
To meet increasing demand for animal products, Tiensuggested accelerating the restructuring of the animal farming sector towardsindustrial scale, improving added values of animal products, and developingprocessing industry.
Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the Livestock ProductionDepartment, said dairy cow farming is most developed in the southeast regionwith 98,000 heads, accounting for over 33 percent of the country’s dairy cowherd, and in Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh City, Son La and Hanoi.
He said the milk output of Vietnam’s dairy cows reach 4,500– 5,000kg per cycle, equivalent or higher than those in Thailand, Indonesia andChina.
The sector set the target of having 500,000 heads of dairycows, and one million tonnes of milk in 2020, with a yearly growth of over 11percent. The respective figures will be 700,000 heads and two million tonnes by2030.
Deputy head of the Department of Farm ProduceProcessing and Market Development Pham Van Duy said Vietnam hasexported milk to 46 countries and territories, with the Middle East countries accountingfor over 70 percent of the total volume.
He addedthat China will remain the largest importer of Vietnamese milk in the nearfuture as its supply only meets 75 percent of domestic demand.
The twocountries have signed a protocol on Vietnam’s milk export to China, and thefirst shipment under this protocol will be delivered to China this year.
According toDuy, milk export to China is expected to surge under the protocol, turningChina into the biggest market for Vietnam’s milk./.