HANOI, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called on the country's pig farmers to redevelop their stocks safely and quickly, daily newspaper Vietnam News reported on Thursday.
Pork makes up about 65 to 70 percent of the protein consumed in the country, but African swine fever has been hitting production since the start of the year, according to the report, noting that at present, pork supplies meet roughly 80 percent of demand in Vietnam.
Pork productivity in the country reached more than 811,000 tons in the first quarter of this year, with plans to produce more than 900,000 tons, 1 million tons and 1.1 million tons in the second, third and last quarters of this year, respectively.
Meanwhile, the fever also made pork prices fluctuate between 30,000 and 70,000 Vietnamese dong (1.3 and 3 U.S. dollars) per kg since last year, and rise to about 80,000 Vietnamese dong (3.5 U.S. dollars) per kg last month due to lack of supply and rising demand, the newspaper cited the ministry as reporting.
Only 16 provinces and cities in Vietnam have the fever to date while in 2019, African swine fever spread to all 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam, leading to the culling of over 5.9 million pigs, according to a report by Vietnam News Agency. Enditem
