Waste of millions of tons of by-products

At the forum "Circular economy in the livestock industry: Opportunities and challenges" today, March 21, Mr. Vo Trong Thanh, representative of the Department of Livestock Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), informed that our country's pig herd more than 28.8 million heads, more than 8.9 million cattle, and 533 million poultry. The output of meat, eggs, and milk meets the needs of domestic consumption and export. The value of the whole livestock industry in 2022 is estimated at 23.7 billion USD. And with the current growth trend, the large number of livestock has a certain impact on the environment.

Dr. Nguyen The Hinh - Deputy Head of the Management Board of Agricultural Projects, affirmed that the circular economy will solve the problems of green growth and sustainable development of the livestock industry.

The livestock industry each year has about 75 million tons of by-products - a resource for the development of a circular economy.

According to Mr. Hinh, 3 main technologies are being deployed in large-scale livestock farms: solid waste treatment by manure separators; gas waste treatment by biogas generators; liquid waste treatment by irrigation system (wastewater after biogas through filtration system).

Recently, the Low Carbon Agriculture Support Project (LCASP) has developed models in 10 provinces, with initial results quite positive. The project has invested in manure separators in livestock farms with over 2,000 heads of pigs/cows as well as irrigation systems with biogas wastewater. Large farms all achieve profit margins of over 20%, with a payback period of 5-6 years.

Pilot implementation at several pig farms with a scale of over 5,000 heads for a profit margin of up to 60% compared to the traditional model, the payback period is from 2-3 years.
Ms. Bui Thi Hong Ha, Center for Organic Agriculture (Vietnam Agricultural Academy), shared about the chicken-vegetable linkage model in Thai Binh. Chicken manure is treated with microbiological technology at the farm, composted, and used in the vegetable field.

This method is applied at the laying hen farm with a scale of 18,000-50,000 chickens. As a result, Trung An Clean Vegetable Cooperative has increased productivity by 40%. Another clean vegetable cooperative uses chicken manure sprinkled on the field and makes use of the residues in the field, without the need for pesticides, helping to produce vegetables at a low cost, and creating high quality for customers, Ms. Ha said.

It is estimated that the livestock by-product volume alone is up to 75 million tons per year. This is a resource for the development of the circular economy, but in our country, it is still wasted or used inefficiently.

The circular economy development in livestock production still has many policy bottlenecks

Clearing legal bottlenecks

Mr. Nguyen Anh Phong - Director of the Information Center (Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development) - pointed out that, with the development and replication of the circular economy in agriculture, Vietnam is facing some challenges such as awareness of circular economy in small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives are still in their infancy; risk aversion, investment level for large recycling models; The legal framework is not yet complete.

Mr. Nguyen Tri Cong, Chairman of Dong Nai Livestock Association, said that the current bottleneck for recirculating agricultural production units (taking by-products of this industry as raw materials for other industries) but obstacles to the provisions of the Law on Environment, the Law on Environmental Protection.

Raising cows is growing high, but we have no pasture. I want to take advantage of agricultural by-products as food for cows, but when purchasing at agricultural processing factories, buying residues, stems, branches, etc., transportation is difficult, because it is considered waste under the Environmental Law, he cited.

According to Mr. Ha Van Thang, Chairman of the Vietnam Agricultural Enterprise Council, the circular economy is the foundation of sustainable development, the foundation of the green economy. Therefore, we should not separate too much, should not bind, but depending on the actual conditions of each organization and household to develop the model.

He suggested that state management agencies need to study regulations on the legal corridor and legal framework for innovation; there are policies to serve businesses and households to treat livestock waste to pilot and evaluate, thereby spreading the model.

Via: infonet.vietnamnet.vn