Project Progress Report: " A blueprint for sustainable smallholder pig production in Central Vietnam" ppt

1 Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development Project Progress Report A blueprint for sustainable smallholder pig production in Central Vietnam CARD Project 004/05VIE Milestone 13: FINAL REPORT APRIL 2010 Figure 1: Creep boxes introduced on demonstration farms in Quang Tri province to keep piglets dry and warm during the suckling period. 2 Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 1. INSTITUTE INFORMATION 3 2. PROJECT ABSTRACT 4 3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 4. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND 5 5. PROGRESS TO DATE 6 5.1 IMPLEMENTATION HIGHLIGHTS 6 5.3 SMALLHOLDER BENEFITS 15 5.4 CAPACITY BUILDING 16 5.5 PUBLICITY 17 5.6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT 17 6. REPORT ON CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES 17 6.1 ENVIRONMENT 17 6.2 GENDER AND SOCIAL ISSUES 18 7. IMPLEMENTATION & SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES 18 7.1 ISSUES, CONSTRAINTS AND OPTIONS 18 7.2 SUSTAINABILITY 19 8. NEXT CRITICAL STEPS 19 9. CONCLUSION 19 10. STATUTORY DECLARATION 19 3 1. Institute Information Project Name A blueprint for sustainable small holder pig production in Central Vietnam Vietnamese Institution National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH); Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF); National Institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR) Vietnamese Project Team Leaders Dr Ta Thi Bich Duyen (NIAH); Professor Nguyen Quang Linh (HUAF); Dr Cu Huu Phu (NIVR) Australian Organisation The University of Queensland/Victorian Department of Primary Industry/South Australian Research and Development Institute Australian Personnel Dr Darren Trott, Dr Ian Wilkie, Dr Colin Cargill, Dr Tony Fahy Date commenced April 1st 2006 Completion date (original) April 2009 Completion date (revised) April 2010 Reporting period April 2006 – April 2010 Contact Officer(s) In Australia: Team Leader Name: Dr Darren Trott* Telephone: Position: Associate Professor Veterinary Microbiology Fax: Organisation School of Veterinary Science The University of Qld *Now at the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences The University of Adelaide Email: darren.trott@adelaide.edu.au In Australia: Administrative contact Name: Melissa Anderson Telephone: 61 7 33652651 Position: Manager Research Projects Office Fax: 61 7 33651188 Organisation School of Land and Food Email: m.anderson@uq.edu.au 4 The University of Qld In Vietnam Name: Dr Do Ngoc Thuy Telephone: 84 4 8693932 Position: Senior Scientist Fax: 84 4 8694082 Organisation NIVR Email: dongocthuy73@yahoo.com 2. Project Abstract Small holder farmers in Central Vietnam predominantly raise pig breeds such as Mong Cai, Mini pig, and SocHighland, which are well adapted to local conditions but have limited performance and economic efficiency. Improving the genetics of local breeds by introduction of high performance Mong Cai lines for pure breeding and exotic breeding programmes will result in significant benefits for small holder farmers if it can be aligned with an integrated farrow-to-finish management plan (focusing on health, husbandry, housing and nutrition) to improve production parameters and limit health problems. This holistic, continuous improvement plan (CIP) will be initiated by appropriately trained Vietnamese veterinary and animal scientists, under the direction of Australian experts. Through a train the trainers approach, the CIP will be extended to veterinary extension workers, commercial piggery managers and selected small scale pig farmers for successful uptake of knowledge and skills. 3. Executive Summary This project focused on improving smallholder pig health and production in the central provinces of Vietnam (Thua Thien Hue and Quang Tri) and began with six major objectives: 1. Train the trainers; 2. Select the farms; 3. Adopt best practice; 4. Introduce new breeding stock; 5. Monitor profitability; and 6. Sustain profitability. The project commenced with six early career Vietnamese scientists being selected for high level training in Australia who would then develop and run the remainder of the prject under the direction of Vietnamese and Australian experts. Following a survey of over 200 farms in four provinces and a workshop to decide the major project intervention strategies, it was decided to focus on Mong Cai (rather than exotic or cross bred sows) and to introduce high-performance gilts at the same time as a holistic continuous improvement plan to train farmers. Project initiatives that had the most profound effect on uptake of knowledge and skills and ultimately, increased production and overall benefit:cost included the following: -Major modifications to housing and ventilation to control temperature and humidity. -Introduction of the NIVR E. coli vaccine and creep boxes to improve piglet health and growth in the pre-weaning period and reduce the incidence of diarrhoea. -Accurate record keeping, increased awareness of pig diseases and strategic use of medications to control diarrhoea and mange. -Formation of farmer clubs following a key decision to focus training on demonstration farmers rather than veterinarians and paraveterinarians. The project culminated in the creation of a participatory training DVD where farmers from each of the clubs designed and implemented the storyboards for nine chapters covering the major project interventions. Successful farmers that adopted the project recommendations achieved production figures of 16-22 pigs sold/sow/year and a benefit:cost ratio in the order of 2.2-2.5 compared 1.1 without interventions. Following project completion further funding will now be sought to expand the model into neighbouring provinces as well as Laos and Cambodia. 5 4. Introduction & Background In response to the increased demand for pork, Vietnamese small holder farmers in the Central provinces have intensified their production system, while others have attempted to continue to produce pigs in older, poorly designed facilities. As intensification has increased, so too have disease problems, particularly in the pre-weaning stage, so it is not surprising that enteric diseases cause very substantial losses in this age group. While the diseases involved can usually be controlled by a combination of good management and strategic vaccination, the sub-optimal environment provided on many farms is also a major risk factor, especially in the farrowing and weaning areas. Antibiotics, which add significantly to the cost of production, are used to overcome these deficiencies and their indiscriminate use is probably contributing to the current high level of multi-drug resistance in isolates from pigs in Vietnam. Expansion of small holder pig production in Central Vietnam has the potential to improve the income generating capacity of poor families, but is currently hampered by low profitability due to a combination of poor reproductive performance and growth rates, lack of husbandry and management skills, poor nutrition and disease problems. Based on the experience drawn from our existing CARD project (001/04VIE), the problems faced by small holder pork producers in Vietnam include:  Lack of on-farm recording to allow effective herd management on a day-to-day basis.  Lack of written records on average daily gain, feed conversion efficiency and pigs marketed /sow/year to determine whole-herd productivity and profitability.  Failure to set and reach reproduction targets.  Poor ventilation and cooling systems which limit the feed intake of progeny and breeders.  Restrict feeding of all classes of stock from lactating sows through to finisher pigs.  Lack of written data to assist resolving herd health problems-particularly mortalities, age and cause of death.  Incorrect vaccination strategies for those diseases for which there are effective vaccines.  Lack of specialist veterinary and extension staff to instruct and advise farmers.  Lack of model demonstration farms in each province to train the trainers. To better understand the risk factors that are contributing to pig health problems, and limiting or reducing production, it is proposed to survey a large number of small holder farms in Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh Provinces. Retrospective baseline data on production, health, housing, environment and income will be collected and deficiencies in husbandry and housing will be detected and assessed so that they can be prioritised. A representative sample of small holder farms (defined as those with less than 10-15 sows) and small commercial farms (30 to 100 sows) in each province will be selected for the survey and audit process, which will be used to assess the standard of production and competency of farmers and facilities. Prior to commencing the survey, Vietnamese scientists will be trained to visit farms and interview the farmer and his/her family and collect required data on production and facilities. Following the survey of selected farms in the three provinces, a workshop will be held at Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry to identify the key risk factors that are negatively influencing health and production. A set of priorities will then be established for improving management, husbandry and housing on farms. This will result in the development of suitable models for pig production incorporating modified and improved designs for housing, as well as husbandry and management techniques. Once the full modules have been validated, a series of field days will be held in each district, with extension service personnel and local veterinarians as trainers. Selected farmers will also be invited to participate in “train the trainer workshops” so that they can also participate in training other farmers through “farmer-to-farmer workshops” in each area. The pig production farrow-to-sale training workshops will be tailored for the needs and production systems followed. 6 Many of the poorer households use indigenous breeds of pig with the intention of crossing them with exotic breeds to improve growth and performance in the F1 progeny. However, the local breeds currently reared by small holder farmers perform very poorly. Of the three major breeds pure Mong Cai have by far the best performance. High performance pure Mong Cai have been bred in Bacgiang with an average litter size of 13-14 piglets (compared to 8-9 for the other indigenous breeds) and a growth rate of 350-400g per day (compared to only 200-250g for the other breeds). These results clearly show the robustness of the Mong Cai breed. Introduction of high quality, high performance Mong Cai sows will provide the nucleus for a central coast pure Mong Cai breeding zone collective. Pure Mong Cai gilts will be raised for downstream sale to other small holders for a crossbreeding program using exotic breeds of boar. Hybrid vigour in F1 progeny will provide better growth rates than the currently used indigenous breeds, but will be more adaptable to local environmental conditions compared to exotic breeds of pig. This program will also maintain the pure Mong Cai gene pool in the central coastal area. 5. Progress to Date 5.1 Implementation Highlights Objective 1: Train the trainers Output 1.1 Training programme for Vietnamese scientists. Following site visits to Australia by the Vietnamese project leaders in early 2006 (to observe different pig rearing facilities in Australia and plan the detailed training programme), six talented Vietnamese scientists were selected to undertake a 2-month comprehensive training programme (June-July 2006) in an holistic approach to pig health, production and epidemiology (detailed in MS2 and MS3 reports). The overall goal of this programme was for each trainer to develop the capacity to conduct independent pig farm audits (focused on nutrition, husbandry, housing, health and management), to identify major constraints to profitable production. Vietnamese scientists passed all their competency assessments and received certificates of training from The University of Queensland. A major output of this high level training initiative was the production of a detailed questionnaire (designed and assembled by the trainee scientists during the epidemiology component of their training), to be used in Vietnam for the baseline survey of smallholder pig farms. Vietnamese scientists therefore developed the skills and technical understanding to perform the first farm audits and select the individual farmers to take part in the remainder of the project and form the nucleus of the central coast breeding zone. The training mission provided the opportunity for close bonds to be formed between the three Vietnamese institutes (collaboration between two government research organisations and a University is unprecedented in Vietnam) and their Australian counterparts, which formed the foundation for strong research cooperation during the remainder of the project. The trainees have made strong contributions to achieving the project initiatives and milestones in both research and extension capacities. Additional outputs detailed in MS3 and MS12 were the design of an ideal shed for raising Mong Cai by Mr Bien (NIAH), the development of post-mortem protocols for disease investigation by Mr Tuan (NIVR), the development and translation of instruction labels for the administration of pig medicines by Ms Cam (NIAH) and the development of a detailed research proposal for monitoring environmental conditions on demonstration and control farms by Dr Duyet (HUAF). Two additional Vietnamese young scientists received in-country training during the project logframe and one of these (Mr Ho Ngoc Phuong) was subsequently selected for Research Masters training at Utrecht University. 7 Output 1.2 Survey questionnaire and farm audit The survey questionnaire developed by the Vietnamese trainee scientists was rigorously audited by Australian scientists (July-September 2006) and transformed into a web-based format with image loading capacity by University of Queesland information technology staff (2006-2007). The website can be accessed at http://survey.library.uq.edu.au/pigs/. A login name (AUSAIDCARD) and password (pigproject) have been created for viewing the database without the ability to alter records. The database and survey questions have been extensively modified over the life of the project. Improvements include the option for a much shorter (monthly) audit version as opposed to the more substantial (yearly) audit, Vietnamese and English versions, inclusion of Farm ID numbers based on province to allow for easy expansion to other provinces and the inclusion of entries for latitude and longitude co-ordinates for future spatial epidemiology functions. The website is both an instructional tool for teaching and assessing farm auditors on their capacity to accurately determine constraints to profitable production, as well as a repository of information regarding individual farms, including those selected as demonstration units for future training initiatives. Due to a number of factors, including difficulty accessing the web or slow connection speed in Vietnam and several identified coding errors, the website has not been utilized to its full capacity by Vietnamese scientists during the life of the project. Data export options into Excel, Access or SPSS have not been explored in the current project, but are possible in future initiatives following appropriate consultation with an epidemiologist. However, survey data obtained at the commencement and conclusion of the project in addition to several yearly audits have been entered on the website, as well as photos of demonstration farms and audit checklists. Owing to a number of these difficulties, SPSS was used to analyse the data collected following the baseline survey (MS4 and MS5 reports). Sow numbers ranged from 1 to 20 with a mean number of sows of 3.5 and 84% using the Mong Cai local breed. A total of 93% of farms kept less than 11 sows (ie 1-10) and 89% had less than 6 sows (ie 1-5). Key demographic data included the fact that 98.4%, 80%, 35% and 7% of farmers had completed primary, high primary, secondary and post- secondary education, respectively, but education level did not influence sow numbers. Interestingly, all farmers had more than 5 years pig husbandry experience and 89% more than 10 years. Mean number of pigs born live was 12.04 ± 1.63 with Mong Cai averaging 12.61 and exotic breeds only 9.95. Stillbirths (which includes early birth mortality from being squashed by the sow) averaged 15.9% overall (13.7% for Mong Cai and 32.8% for exotics). Mong Cai are very good mothers and rarely require farrowing crates. Over 80% of litters were reported to have diarrhoea, with 12.2% having greater than 55% of piglets in the litter affected. Factors that may predispose to diarrhoea included poor housing and lack of temperature control, lack of E. coli vaccination, poor management systems and hygiene, including the common practice of hosing out creep areas daily. Key constraints to production included nutrition and general feeding levels (restricted vs ad lib feeding of sows), poor housing and ventilation, lack of boar stimulation causing delayed and inconsistent oestrus patterns and returns to service and lack of on-farm recording data meaning that it was impossible to determine the number of pigs/sow/year produced. Following a workshop held in Hue in September 2006 and the completion and analysis of the farm surveys in September 2006-January 2007 in Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Binh Dinh provinces, a major decision was made to focus on Mong Cai production rather than exotic or crossbred sows as these would be more robust under the local conditions whilst not requiring expensive farrowing crates. Farmers would inseminate with exotic breed boar semen to obtain F1 hybrids with high growth rate for meat production, or pure Mong Cai semen for local breeding programmes. A second decision was made to concentrate demonstration units in two provinces only (Thua Thien Hue and Quang Tri) in close proximity to reduce travel costs. An action list of high- priority project interventions was drawn up to begin the process of adopting the continuous improvement plan (CIP) on farms selected for upgrade to demonstration units. These included: 1) Modification and introduction of improvements to housing to improve ventilation, temperature control and hygiene in pig sheds; 2) Modification and adoption of improved farrowing pen designs 8 (Mong Cai do not need farrowing crates given they are provided with nesting material) and creep boxes with increased temperature control for piglets; 3) Group housing of dry sows in pens with feeding stalls or half stalls; 4) Written, complete, auditable records in regular use on farm; 5) Develop and pass a diet audit if using local feedstuffs and have an ad lib feeding and water regime in place; 6) Acceptable heat detection methods and optimal artificial insemination; 7) Vaccination and treatment schedules in place and NIVR E. coli vaccine in use; 8) Mange eradicated; 9) Introduction of new improved Mong Cai breeding stock accomplished; 10) Diagnostic surveillance for preweaning diarrhoea initiated; 11) Introduction of sow litter cards; and 12) Strong encouragement to build new pig facilities (rather than renovate old facilities) as knowhow is developed and production improved to the specification designed by Vietnamese trainees. Some features of the new housing design included:  Tiled or fibro roof with ridge vent for air circulation, especially during summer. Cheaper roofing options include iron (but must be cooled in summer, for example by covering with a creeper) or thatch.  Adequate cross ventilation  Sloping floors to drainage gutters for easy cleaning and processing of dung to prevent concrete floors staying wet  Clean, dry creep areas for piglets with temperature kept at 30-32 o C.  Dry stalls for individual feeding of pregnant sows  Separate dunging areas with limited drafts through side wall openings at pig level (a common error in pig housing design in Vietnam). Objective 2: Select the farms Output 2.1 Selection of smallholder farms Following analysis of the survey results, researchers chose the best 30 and 24 farms in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue, respectively, to become candidate demonstration units. Criteria included the receptiveness of the farmer and his/her family to receiving training and their capacity to invest 50% in piggery infrastructure and breeding stock with the project covering the remainder of the costs. During the life of the project, each of these farmers received basic training from Vietnamese scientists and applied training during the Australian site visits (approximately three to four per year). Following encouragement from Vietnamese scientists and farm visits by Australian team members, continual improvements were made on these demonstration farms (some subsidised by the project but mostly paid for by the farmers themselves). Step-by-step, farmers adopted the majority of recommendations over the duration of the project, however, for some major project interventions, farmers needed to be continually reminded of the best practice. One common example was cross ventilation, with farmers often not willing to open side ventilation blinds during hot weather because they did not realise the effect of heat stress on the sow, particularly during late pregnancy and lactation. Conversely, during winter farmers were often unaware of the effect of drafts at the pig level (old style housing with solid walls plus ventilation “holes”). Output 2.2 Housing modifications in selected units (pre- and post-weaning for piglets and sows). Housing modifications included an abandonment of “lean to” pig sheds attached to the family home for new housing orientated in the right direction on the most ideal site or improvements to existing buildings. For example, in Quang Tri province, 9 farmers built new sheds according to Mr Bien’s design specifications and the remaining 21 households performed modifications such as raising the roof and installing ridge vents, providing more cross ventilation with easily adjustable blinds, 9 installation of automatic water faucets and renovating pen floors, sow stalls and wastewater systems. Some households built reservoir systems for effluent management and composting with EM (Effective Microorganisms) product (a microbial biolytic that accelerates the composting process), with 10 households installing new biogas systems for cooking and lighting. Figure 2: New Mong Cai shed with adjustable blinds for regulation ventilation. By far the greatest benefits were obtained through the introduction of nest boxes (80cm x 70cm x 60cm) for suckling piglets and introduction of the NIVR E. coli vaccine on all demonstration farms. Nestboxes were first introduced in Quang Tri province during the 2007/2008 winter which was particularly cold. Thirty creep boxes were paid for by the project with the demonstration farmers building a further 18 boxes. Farmers that did not immediately adopt the creep box soon followed the lead of their neighbours when their piglets suffered a severe growth check or died during a cold snap whereas piglets supplied with nest boxes were kept warm and dry throughout winter and achieved a higher weaning weight. This proved the principle that farmers will often not immediately follow advice until they can observe a demonstrated improvement from the suggested intervention. Figure 3: Piglets born to a Mong Cai sow vaccinated with the NIVR E. coli vaccine. Colostrum ingested at birth contains protective antibodies preventing neonatal diarrhea in the first week of life. 10 Figure 4: New nestboxes introduced in the winter of 2007/2008 prevented piglet chilling. Table 1: Capital improvements undertaken on demonstration farms in three communes in Quang Tri province. Intervention Number Households participating in the project 30 Households with newly built pig sheds 9 Newly built pig pens 106 Upgrading and repairing of existing pig pens 21 Households that built newly biogas system 7 Installation of creep boxes supported from the project 30 Creep boxes built from the farmer’s own fund 18 Objective 3: Adopt best practice Outputs 3.1 and 3.2: Training manuals, workshops and other training initiatives Manuals and aids for the training of the six Vietnamese scientists in Australia were submitted with the MS3 report. A major objective of 004/05VIE was to then filter this training through to commune and district veterinarians and paraveterinarians, who would pass on knowledge and skills to other farmers in the commune whilst the project team continued working with individual demonstration farmers as capital improvements were undertaken on their farms. This model was soon abandoned in 2008 as the paraveterinarians/veterinarians selected for training showed little interest in further developing their skills, presumably because they could not see a financial gain or benefit for themselves. Training tools for smallholder farmers (presented in the MS8 report) included the following: 1) A basic training course provided by each Vietnamese institute in 2007 (didactic lecture/discussions to the entire group of selected farmers in each province); 2) Site visits and hands-on training workshops provided to individual selected farmers by Australian experts and Vietnamese scientists between 2007-2009; 3) Farmer to farmer training through formation of farmer clubs in 2008-2010 [...]... scientists at The Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production Biennial Scientific Congress in Hanoi in September 2008 5) The Australian ambassador Mr Alastair Cox will visit the project farms in July 2010 5.6 Project Management Operational project management was shared between six institutes; three in Australia (The University of Queensland, Victorian Department of Primary Industry, South Australian... gilts (installation of dry sow stalls, farrowing pen modifications and creep areas, improved ventilation, heating and cooling systems, reducing drafts, separate dunging areas and prioritising of cleaning systems to improve dryness of the pen floors and hygiene) Basic training on the care and management of Mong Cai sows and crossbred piglets Specialist on-farm training by Australian and Vietnamese scientists... will form the background for a large, multi-disciplinary application to Atlantic Philanthropies to be made in 2011 (budget ~$5.0 million) to continue the model in other provinces and possibly into Laos and Cambodia, employing project farmers as trainers 9 Conclusion A blueprint for successful Mong Cai pig production by smallholder farmers in Central Vietnam has been created through a novel collaboration... toltrazuril for coccidiosis (Baycox) and provision of a clean, dry and warm creep area and eradication of mange Output 5.2 Accurate disease surveillance with emphasis on preweaning mortality Data from 2008 was presented at the Australasian Association of Animal Production Conference in Hanoi Compared to control farms, improved housing and management on demonstration farms in Thua Thien Hue resulted in significant... significant impact on the environment as well as improving smallholder livelihoods and financial benefits The number of farmers using biogas expanded during the project, with gas used for lighting and cooking (both for the family as well as the pigs) Many farmers have introduced separate dunging areas in their pig houses, channels for effective removal piggery waste (often to the biogas unit) and readily adopted... of integrated farming activities such as aquaculture Advice and instruction on the correct use and schedule of vaccines, antimicrobials for enteric and respiratory disease and antiparasitic medications Treatment and eradication of mange Introduction of a simple and accurate record keeping system Advice on correct heat detection, optimal AI and gilt selection and breeding Advice on optimal feeding using... clubs in Quang Tri in 2008 and their spread to Thua Thien Hue in 2009/2010 has contributed to the formation of a strong smallholder farmer training network Each farmer club meets monthly has 10-15 members who pay a joining fee and a leader The project has sponsored a small library including agricultural journals and provided training posters for the meeting room The University of Queensland also donated... analysis for a smallholder farmer keeping 5 sows based on interviews with farmers during a project validation visit in April 2010 and concluded that the project interventions had increased the ratio from approximately 1.1 to 2.2-2.5 By far the greatest benefit was prevention of preweaning diarrhoea by vaccination using the E coli vaccine, treatment of 3-5 day-old piglets with a single treatment of toltrazuril... Research Development Institute) and three in Vietnam (National Institute of Animal Husbandry, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and National Institute of Veterinary Research) HUAF was directly responsible for implementation of the CIP in Thua Thien Hue and NIAH likewise for Quang Tri province NIVR was responsible for providing E coli vaccines for the project and providing advice and assistance... and profitability through the sale of pure Mong Cai breeding stock and integration of additional farming systems Creation of the training DVD: This DVD provides a lasting training legacy for sustainability of the farmer club system The DVD is an excellent initial tool for the recruitment and basic training of smallholder farmers, but it must be realised that farmers will soon grow beyond its initial . Institute Information Project Name A blueprint for sustainable small holder pig production in Central Vietnam Vietnamese Institution National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH); Hue University. of farmer clubs following a key decision to focus training on demonstration farmers rather than veterinarians and paraveterinarians. The project culminated in the creation of a participatory. by Vietnamese scientists at The Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production Biennial Scientific Congress in Hanoi in September 2008. 5) The Australian ambassador Mr Alastair Cox will