Building disease-free zones is the most important key to the sustainable development of the husbandry sector, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said on February 23.

A model pig farm in Hanoi's Ba Vi district

The top priority at present is given to researching and producing vaccines against African swine fever (ASF), Cuong said at a meeting in Hanoi on plans to implement the husbandry development strategy for 2021-2030.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien stated that Vietnam expects to produce ASF vaccines for commercial purposes at the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter to serve domestic husbandry development with affordable prices.

According to head of the Department of Animal Health Pham Van Dong, in the first two months of 2021, about 2,000 pigs with ASF were killed.

The country currently has 73 outbreaks in 21 provinces and cities, Dong added.

Acting head of the Department of Livestock Production Nguyen Xuan Duong cited January’s statistics which showed the total number of the country’s poultry flocks increased by 6.5% year-on-year, and the total number of cows up 2.2%, and pigs up 16.2%.