When the livestock sector is considered an essential role in farmers' livelihood, and local breeds are still the critical component of animal breeding in Laos. Thus, there is a need to review the previous, current situation and prospects for Laos' livestock production. It aimed to study the different traits among the existing dominant local and improved livestock breeds (cattle, pig, and goat) and a more in-depth study on the livestock sector's previous evolving and prospects. Our findings revealed that the general trend of livestock population in Laos increased year-by-year for over 45 years, except for 1995 to 2000. It was decreased by almost 22% due to the new national strategy on economic revolution.  The first foreign breeds were introduced into Laos, i.e., Large White, Landrace, and Duroc in 1980, Red Sindhi bulls in 1998, the frozen semen of Red Brahman 2003, and Bach Thao goats between 2001 to 2003. Unfortunately, many data are still not precise for introducing other foreign breeds like Boer goats, Thai Grey and Red Brahman. There were many missing data on the improvement of livestock breeds in Laos, including the local and improved breeds' reproductive and productive performance, which needs more study and research. We conclude that the semi-complex farm operation should be applied to improve livestock breeding and their productions in Laos.

Abstract. Indigenous pigs are essential domestic animals for rural life and meat supply in Laos, especially for ethnic people in remote areas. Northern provinces have the most numerous indigenous pig populations, i.e. covering 84 % of the total pig population. This study was conducted in northern Laos, where 164 pig-raising households, 325 sows and 1246 piglets were included. The study aimed to observe the general trend of change in indigenous pig utilization and the altered reproductive performance regarding village location and rearing systems. The semi-structured questionnaires were a key tool for gathering data required through personal interviews and field observations. Two types of indigenous Lao pig breeds (locally named Moo Lath and Moo Hmong) were found in study areas. The village locations were not influencing on reproductive performance of indigenous Lao pigs. Larger litter size and birth weight (P<0.004–0.000) was found in the second cluster (15 to 30 km away from downtown) with an average of 8.24 heads and 0.88 kg, while the first (<15 km) and third (>30 km) clusters had 7.72 versus 7.12 heads, and 0.70 versus 0.63 kg, respectively. Conversely, the second cluster had lower litter per year (P<0.001) by 1.04, compared to 1.38 for the first and third clusters. The free-scavenging rearing system (FRS) had a higher litter size (8.5) than the confinement (CRS) and semi-scavenge (SRS) rearing system (7.36 versus 7.54). The FRS had a marginally smaller litter per year (0.87) that differed from the CRS and SRS (1.45 and 1.41). The CRS had a shorter suckling period (2.38 months) with a lower weaning weight (6.74 kg), while the FRS and SRS had longer (2.72 versus 2.8 months) and higher weaning weight (7.76 and 7.57 kg). The mortality before weaning was 15 %, and no difference was found related to the villages' location or rearing systems (P>0.070 versus 0.839). Around 56 % of the piglet's deaths were due to poor management that caused piglets to be crushed/injured by sow or starvation. More than 54 % of farmers did not keep sows in pens before the farrowing, and 53 % of sows gave birth near forests. In conclusion, the village locations and rearing systems did not influence the reproductive performance of indigenous pigs in northern Laos. However, pre- and post-farrowing management had a strong effect on it. During the whole study, we took into consideration the successful example of Hungarian Mangalica pig, which could find a proper new role in the global premium markets. Our results suggest that similar complex semi-intensive farm operations as indigenous Mangalica pig farms in Hungary should be a great option for introducing and adapting to improve indigenous pig performance in Laos.

The present paper explored the influence of breeding native pigs on livelihood conditions and the contribution of native pigs to the rural development and rural poverty reduction in the rural areas of Lao PDR. Pig production plays an important role in meat supply for both urban and rural areas of Laos. It is clear that most of the pig products in the country come from smallholder pig farms, and more than 90 percent of those products are the native pigs mostly raised by farmers in remote areas. In general, livestock production distributed between 15–18 percent to GDP, while most of animal production still remains as the traditional methods. Rural development is always the first priority of the Laos government since its independence in 1975, however, the poverty rate in rural areas remained high at 23% in 2018. It might block the development goal of the government which will lead the country out of the least development status by 2020. The food security and malnutrition in the rural or mountainous areas are considered as the majority issue that both government and several international organizations have been thriving hard to overcome, which researchers showed that more than 45% of children under 5 years of age were stunted, and 28% of them were underweight. Inspired of more than 50 % of the households in the rural areas of Laos reported they consumed chicken and pork at least one day a week. While native pigs play an important role on meat supply, it also constituted around 9–14 % of annual income of the households in rural areas. Therefore, the increase the production of pigs and poultry is one option to promote the meat supply to households in the rural areas of Laos. This paper will be a pathway to guide and identify for the final decision to what experiment will be implemented on Lao native pig in Laos (2021–2023) to complete the comparative study on reproductive physiology and reproductive management methods of Hungarian and Lao Indigenous pig breed. Which found it still needs further afford to research and improve more about native pig performance for all areas of productive and quality management.

Considering the different problems facing the Lao indigenous pig breed Moo Lath. This study was performed to evaluate the efficiency of applying estrous synchronization for the better reproductive management of this species with the use of Altrenogest Regumate® to increase the litter size and birth weight of crossbred piglets using artificial insemination (AI) with Duroc semen. In total, 36 gilts (age: 6.5−10.5 months, weight at insemination: 36.60−51.42 kg) were used. The gilts were divided into three groups (G1, 2, and 3); G1 (18) were synchronized, while G2 (12) were not. Both G1 and G2 gilts were inseminated using Duroc semen, whereas a local boar naturally serviced the G3 (6) gilts. Our results showed that G1 produced the largest litter, compared with G2 and G3 (8.66, 7.50, and 5.50, respectively; p < 0.000). The birth weight of the piglets was not different between the groups (p = 0.464), and higher birth weight was observed in the gilts younger than 7 months and lower in those older than 9 months. In conclusion, the litter size of Moo Lath primiparous gilts was improved in the F−1 Duroc−Moo Lath crossbreed, but their birth weight did not. Moreover, estrous synchronization and AI are novel techniques among Lao farmers who still need more training. Both the optimal body weight and age of gilts at first mating should be clarified for a better economic outcome.

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In Laos, pork is the second most common meat source after fish and its demand is constantly growing annually. Recently, pork has been in short supply in urban and rural areas, forcing the Lao government to import thousands of tons from neighbouring countries, particularly Thailand, Vietnam, and China. In view of the earlier-mentioned, this study aimed to look at the current situation of pork production and supply in Vientiane Capital (VC) and the prospects for pork production in VC, Laos. In 2020, Laos had a pig population of about 4.3 million, with over 91.0% being native pigs and only 366,000 heads being European pig types, with over 54.0% being reared in VC. In 2019, Laos had 578 commercial pig farms, with 188 farms (33.0%) of which were located in VC. Despite the fact that most of the commercial pig farms are located in VC, pork demand is still high, with the consequence that consumers need to pay a high price. For example, in 2020, the average price of pork was 46,000 LAK/kg ($ 4.00); it rose up by 22.0% against 2019 and by 11.0% from 2015. Several feed raw materials (maize, cassava, and rice bran) are produced in VC, and nearby provinces, which the farmers can use to combat the dramatic changes or instabilities of feed price. We concluded that there is a high potential to develop pig production in VC, especially local breeds considering the high demand for premium pork and more available raw feed materials.

The Philippine livestock industry is a vital component in the country's agricultural sector. It contributes around 18.23 percent of the gross output value in agriculture and provides livelihood to many people living in rural areas, signifying its importance with regard to the country’s economy. The constantly increasing demand for animal protein associated with the increase of the world’s population led to the intensification of livestock production, realized through the various initiatives implemented by the government, such as the import of high producing purebreds of various species. This strategy greatly influenced the country's animal genetic resource's diversity and increased food animals' population; however, it impacted the native breeds of food animals. Understanding the characteristics, performance and value of native and exotic breeds is essential to prioritize their livestock industry existence. Thus, this paper aims to characterize various native and exotic breeds of livestock in the Philippines and assess the current conservation of native animals.