Vietnam Works to Build Dairy Industry

HANOI - Feb 10/04 - SNS -- Vietnam is working hard to expand its dairy industry through an aggressive program of live cattle imports and a government sponsored breeding program.

However, the herd has more than double in the past two years due to higher dairy cattle imports and the Government's animal breeding program, says the U.S. agricultural attache here.

In 2003 Vietnam imported about 6,215 dairy cattle, an increase at 59% compared with the total animal imports in 2002. The imported dairy cattle include 5,548 dairy cows and the remaining cattle were breeding stock. Australia, New Zealand and Thailand were the dairy cow suppliers to Vietnam. More than 80% of the cattle were shipped from Australia.

In general, the imported cattle are in good condition. The mortality rate is low, about 2-3%. The average milk yield of the imported cows is around 10-15 liters/day. About 5-8% of the imported cows have milk yields over 20 liters/day, while another 18-20% of the imported cows yield about 15 liter per day.

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