Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has urged livestock businesses to cooperate with the Government and with each other to bring the live pig price down from the current VND75,000 to VND70,000 per kg as from April 1.

A piggery in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

The minister made the call at a working session with 15 big livestock companies in Hanoi on March 30.

The minister hailed the companies for maintaining safe breeding in the recent past despite the threat of the African swine fever (AFS) epidemic. As of March 10, the country’s pig stocks stood at nearly 24 million, equivalent to 74% of the stocks before the hit of the AFS in 2018, and are expected to reach the pre-AFS epidemic number at the end of the third quarter or beginning of the fourth quarter.

He also asked the businesses to make recommendations for a more sustainable development of the pig industry.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has been working with livestock companies to restore the pig stocks and bring pork prices down.

At the same time, the Government has allowed more import of pork, with total volume this year reaching 39,191 tonnes as of March 27, up 312% year on year.

The pork price has stayed high since late 2019, affecting the Consumer Prices Index and posing the risk that the CPI increase could not be kept under 4% as targeted, according to the pricing management committee.

In concluding the session, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung assigned the MARD and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to coordinate with localities and businesses to bring down the production costs of the livestock industry, and intensify the management of prices on the market and intermediary costs in distribution.

The ministries are also asked to build plans to expand the pig herds while ensuring supply-demand balance.