NinhThuan (VNA) – Officials from the agriculture sector and someprovinces gathered at a recent workshop in Ninh Thuan province to discuss waysto sustainably develop goat and sheep farming and adapt it to climate change.

Goat and sheep farming in Vietnam has developedstrongly over the years, according to the Department of Livestock Husbandryunder the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

About 2.7 million goats and sheep had been raisednationwide as of October 2017, up 28.6 percent year on year. In the coastalcentral region, the country’s goat and sheep farming hub, Ninh Thuan provinceis the biggest centre with 54 percent (more than 138,000) of total goats and 96percent (some 160,000) of total sheep.

Nguyen Van Bac, an official from the NationalAgriculture Extension Centre, said in some provinces like Ninh Thuan, BinhThuan, Phu Yen and Dak Lak in the central region, and Tra Vinh, Tay Ninh andDong Thap in the south, goat and sheep farming models have been generating highprofits.

However, small-scale production usingtraditional methods, a shortage of production and consumption links, plusincreasingly serious climate change impacts, have been affecting goat and sheepproduction.

Ha Thuy Hanh, Deputy Director of the centre,said climate change has had major impacts on animal husbandry development. Farmingin many localities considered goat and sheep production centres has shown signsof becoming stagnant, even shrinking.

She added in some provinces, prolonged droughtand natural food shortages over the years have killed many goats and sheep,causing big losses for farmers.

Echoing this view, Director of Ninh Thuan’sagriculture extension centre Nguyen Tin said climate change has greatlyinfluenced local animal husbandry. The province has recorded animal deaths dueto water and food shortages every year. Notably, more than 5,900 head oflivestock died due to drought from early 2015 through the summer-autumn crop of2016. Water scarcity has also killed about 120 head of livestock, including morethan 100 goats and sheep, in Ninh Thuan since April.

At the workshop, many participants said thebiggest problem is finding resilient breeds, asking the agriculture ministry topropose the Government allocate funding to import goat and sheep breeds fromcountries with climate conditions like Vietnam.

They called on the Department of LivestockHusbandry and the National Agriculture Extension Centre to select good breedsin each locality for cross-breeding.

They also urged building more support policiesand production chains, controlling quality from breeds to final products andensuring benefits for both farmers and businesses. 

In the face of expanding industrial and energyprojects, localities need to set aside areas for animal farming, find climatechange-resistant plants to use as food for livestock and develop animal productprocessing factories, participants added.-VNA