Characterization of smallholder pig breeding practices within a rural commune of North Central Vietnam

Abstract

This case study focused on a pig production system in a rural area of North Central Vietnam, with a focus on describing household pig breeding practices and estimating herd demographic parameters, particularly on reproduction. One hundred five households undertaking small-scale piglet production were surveyed, with information gathered on 3268 individual pigs. Pig keeping contributed variably to the overall household livelihood portfolio, with female household members as the main decision makers, contributors to labor, and beneficiaries of income from the pig enterprise. All households kept between one and four young or adult sows, with 69 % of these sows of a local breed type (predominantly Mong Cai), 28 % a cross between a local sow and an exotic sow (predominantly Large White), and the remainder (3 %) as exotic sows. Eighty-eight percent of the piglets produced were cross-bred, while 12 % were local breed. No adult males were kept by the surveyed households, reflecting the common use of artificial insemination for mating purposes. The most common breeding system practiced-the keeping of Mong Cai females and production of cross-bred piglets-capitalizes on the small body size and high fecundity of the sows and the fast growth rate and leanness of the cross-bred piglets. The survey tool used, which was based on farmer recall of events over the preceding 12-month period, appeared to give reasonable results although some recall bias could be detected. This case study will serve as an entry point to planned broader scale characterization and development of pig breeding systems in North Central Vietnam.

The Social Profile, Constraints, and Its Impact on Swine Herd Size in Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam

“…The surveys were conducted from 5 th January to 29 th January, 2020 to get data with two levels which were a household-level and a farm-level survey, which were presented in case of ruminant livestock (Lesnoff et al, 2010) and in case of swine production (Ieda et al, 2015). The survey was conducted in the local language (Vietnamese).…”

“…There are significantly different knowledge gaps between swine raisers and also between the characteristics of smallholders about various swine production systems, from both social-economic and productivity perspective (Ieda et al, 2015). Social demographic characteristics such as age, gender, family member, formal education, experience, and constraints were recorded as factors affecting animal production (Ibrahim et al, 2013;Odhiambo et al, 2019;Phiri, 2012).…”

“…There are a lot of constraints faced by the farmers, i.e., investment, poor animal feed, The Social Profile, Constraints, and Its Impact on Swine Herd Size in Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam animal resources, poor marketing infrastructure for livestock products, less access to loan, and disease which also can be found as a negative impact on livestock production (Haftu et al, 2014;Hayat et al, 2017;Menbere, 2014). In addition, most small swine farmers in Vietnam, especially in the North of Vietnam, used traditional feeds such as rice bran and agricultural by-products (Ieda et al, 2015). There was a fluctuation in feed price when farmers bought concentrates, which were made from imported ingredients.…”

Transcriptome profile of spleen tissues from locally-adapted Kenyan pigs (Sus scrofa) experimentally infected with three varying doses of a highly virulent African swine fever virus genotype IX isolate: Ken12/busia.1 (ken-1033)

“…Studies have shown that some pigs are very susceptible to ASF, while others are asymptomatic carriers of the virus, despite infection with similar virus genotypes [ 7 , 25 , 27 , 28 ]. The locally-adapted pigs are favorites among smallholder farmers in many parts of the world [ 29 , 30 ], including in South-western Kenya, where ASFV persistence in tissues of apparently healthy pigs has been reported [ 7 ]. The level of protection has been attributed to antibody-dependent cytotoxicity that offers limited protection only against homologous ASFV challenge, delaying the onset of clinical signs and viremia [ 31 – 33 ].…”