Abstract
This study evaluates smallholder pig production systems in North Vietnam, comparing a semi-intensive system near a town with good market access, where a Vietnamese improved breed has replaced the indigenous pig breed, and an extensive system away from town, where the indigenous breed still prevails. Fieldwork was conducted in 64 households in four villages. Repeated farm visits yielded 234 structured interviews. Data were analysed by linear models and non-parametric tests. Production inputs and outputs were quantified, and feed use efficiency and economic efficiency were assessed. The gross margin was higher for semi-intensive production with the improved breed, while the benefit–cost ratio was higher under extensive conditions with the indigenous breed. The net benefit did not differ between systems. Twenty-four per cent of farmers yielded a negative net benefit. In one village under extensive conditions, live weight output from indigenous sows with crossbred offspring compared positively with the output from semi-intensive production with improved genotypes, but was associated with high inputs, making production inefficient. Results indicate that improved genotypes might not be an efficient production alternative for saving-oriented production with limited resource supply. Suitability of evaluation parameters, farmers’ production aims, and factors impacting the production success in different systems are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- B:
-
Ban (pig breed)
- BCR:
-
benefit–cost ratio
- C :
-
cash revenue
- CW:
-
Cornwall (pig breed)
- DAAD:
-
German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)
- DFG:
-
German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
- DM:
-
dry matter
- FAO:
-
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- FM:
-
fresh matter
- GJ:
-
gigajoule
- GM:
-
gross margin
- GSO:
-
General Statistical Office Vietnam
- hh:
-
household
- LSM:
-
least-squares mean
- lw:
-
live weight
- LW:
-
Large White (pig breed)
- MARD:
-
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Vietnam
- MC:
-
Mong Cai (pig breed)
- ME:
-
metabolizable energy
- MJ:
-
megajoule
- mVND:
-
million Vietnamese Dong
- N :
-
non-market value of production
- NB:
-
net benefit
- NIAH:
-
National Institute of Animal Husbandry Hanoi, Vietnam
- O :
-
opportunity feed costs
- P25, P75 :
-
25th and 75th percentile
- UNDP:
-
United Nations Development Program
- USD:
-
US dollar
- V :
-
variable cash costs
- VND:
-
Vietnamese Dong (average exchange rate: 1 USD ∼ 15 000 VND, year 2001/2)
- \(\overline{{\text{x}}}\) :
-
arithmetic mean
References
Adams, R.H., 1996. Livestock income, male/female animals, and inequality in rural Pakistan, (Discussion Paper No. 21; International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC).
Bennison, J.J., Barton, D. and Jaitner, J., 1997. The production objectives and feeding strategies for ruminant livestock owners in The Gambia: implications for policy makers. Agricultural Systems, 55, 425–444.
Bosman, H.G., Moll, H.A.J. and Udo, H.M.J., 1997. Measuring and interpreting the benefits of goat keeping in tropical farm systems. Agricultural Systems, 53, 349–372.
Deen, J., Martin, S.W. and Wilson, M.R., 1995. An evaluation of personal interviews as a method of estimating production indices on Ontario swine farms. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 22, 263–271.
Donovan, D., 1997. Development in the local context. case studies from selected hamlets in five Northern provinces. In: D. Donovan, A.T. Rambo, J. Fox, L.T. Cuc and T.D. Vien (eds), Development Trends in Vietnam's Northern Mountain Region, vol. 2. Case studies and lessons from Asia, (East-West Center, Hanoi, Vietnam), 1–93.
Drucker, A., Gómez, V., Ferraes-Ehuan, N., Rubio, O. and Anderson, S., 1999. Comparative economic analysis of Criollo, crossbred and imported pigs in backyard production systems of Yucatan, Mexico, (Wye College, University of London, unpublished report).
Dufhues, T., Dung, P.T. M., Hanh, H.T. and Buchenrieder, G., 2001. Fuzzy information policy of the Vietnam Bank for the Poor in lending to and targeting of the poor in Northern Vietnam, (Research in Development Economics and Policy Discussion Paper 3/2001; Verlag Ulrich E. Grauer. Beuren, Stuttgart).
Epprecht, M., 2005. Geographic dimensions of livestock holdings in Vietnam. Spatial relationships among poverty, infrastructure and the environment, (PPLPI Working Paper No. 24; FAO, Rome).
Giang, H.H., Ly, L.V. and Ogle, B., 2004. Digestibility of dried an ensiled sweet potato roots and vines and their effect on the performance and economic efficiency of F1 crossbred fattening pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 16, 1–9.
GSO (General Statistical Office), 2001. Statistical Yearbook Vietnam 2000, (Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam).
Huyen, N.T.T., 2004. The impact of animal production in mountainous farming systems development in Northwest of Vietnam, (Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim, Germany).
Jamieson, N.L., Cuc, L.T. and Rambo, A.T., 1998. The development crisis in Vietnam's mountains. East- West Center Special Reports 6, 1–31.
Kirchgeßner, M., 1996. Tierernährung. Leitfaden für Studium, Beratung und Praxis, (DLG-Verlags-GmbH, Verlags Union Agrar, Frankfurt a. M., Germany)
Lan, L.T.K., 2000. Epidemiology and economics of classical swine fever at smallholder level in Vietnam, (MSc thesis, University of Reading, Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research Unit).
Landesanstalt für Schweinezucht Forchheim, 2002. Prüfung auf Mastleistung und Schlachtkörperwert, (Landesanstalt für Schweinezucht Forchheim, Forchheim).
Lapar, L., Binh, V.T. and Ehui, S., 2003. Identifying barriers to entry to livestock input and output markets in South-East Asia. The case of Vietnam, (ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya).
Le Coq, J.F., Jésus, F., Nham, L.T. and Binh, V.T., 2002. Filière porc dans le Delta du Fleuve Rouge : identification des enjeux et recherche de solutions en concertation. Colloque “Des approches innovantes au services du développement agricole”, 23–27 September 2002, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Lemke, U., Thuy, L.T., Valle Zárate, A., Kaufmann, B.A., and Vang, N.D., 2002. Characterisation of smallholder pig production systems in mountainous areas of North Vietnam. Deutscher Tropentag, 9–11 October 2002. Witzenhausen, Germany.
Lemke, U., Kaufmann, B.A., Thuy, L.T. and Valle Zárate, A., 2005. Evaluation of smallholder pig production systems in North Vietnam. 56th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, 5–8 June 2005, Uppsala, Sweden.
Lemke, U., Emrich, K., Thuy, L.T., Kaufmann, B. and Valle Zárate, A., 2006. Evaluation of smallholder pig production systems in North Vietnam: pig production management and performances. Livestock Science, 105, 229–243.
Lich, L.B., 1999. Livestock production development in the Northern provinces of Vietnam. Policy Options for Using Livestock to Promote Rural Income Diversification and Growth in Vietnam, (A research project funded by the Royal Embassy of Denmark, and the MARD. Planning workshop, Hanoi, 2 July 1999).
Loc, N.T., Ogle, B. and Preston, T.R., 1997. Protein supplementation of traditional diets for crossbred pigs under village conditions in Central Vietnam. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 9, 1–5.
MARD and UNDP, 2003. Farmer Needs Study, (Project VIE/98/004/B/01/99; Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam)
NIAH, 2001. Composition and Nutritive Value of Animal Feeds in Vietnam, (Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi, Vietnam).
Peters, D., Tinh, N.T., Hoan, M.T., Yen, N.T., Thach, P.N. and Fuglie, K., 2005. Rural income generation through improving crop-based pig production systems in Vietnam: diagnostics, interventions, and dissemination. Agriculture and Human Values, 22, 73–85.
Piepho, H.P., Buechse, A. and Emrich, K., 2003. A hitchhiker's guide to mixed models for randomized experiments. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, 189, 1–13.
Statistical Department Son La, 2000. Statistical Yearbook Son La Province, (Son La, Vietnam) (in Vietnamese).
SVSV (Strengthening of Veterinary Services in Vietnam), 1998. Study on Livestock Economics: Processing and Marketing in Vietnam, (ALA/96/20; MARD Vietnam, European Commission, Hanoi, Vietnam).
Teufel, N., Kuettner, K. and Gall, C., 1998. Contribution of goat husbandry to household income in the Punjab (Pakistan): a review. Small Ruminant Research, 28, 101–107.
Thuy, N.T., 2001. Epidemiology and economics of foot-and-mouth disease at smallholder level in Vietnam, (MSc thesis, University of Reading, Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research Unit).
Tra, H.T.H., 2003. Assessing input in pig production with special focus on feed resources and feeding management in demand and resource driven production systems in Son La province, Vietnam, (MSc thesis, Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tierproduktion in den Tropen und Subtropen).
Van Eckert, M., 1993. Kleinbäuerliche Schweinehaltung in Simbabwe. Eine sozioökonomische Analyse von Tierhaltungssystemen in den kommunalen Gebieten, (Alano-Verlag, Aachen).
Van der Poel, P. and Khiem, N.D., 1993. Land use in the Song Da watershed, (SFDP Baseline study No. 2; Hanoi, Vietnam).
Whittemore, C., Green, D.M. and Knap, P.W., 2001. Technical review of the energy and protein requirements of growing pigs: food intake. Animal Science, 73, 3–17.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lemke, U., Kaufmann, B., Thuy, L.T. et al. Evaluation of biological and economic efficiency of smallholder pig production systems in North Vietnam. Trop Anim Health Prod 39, 237–254 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-007-9001-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-007-9001-9