TRAVEL SCHEDULE 19th May Singapore Adelaide to Singapore: depart 12:05 / arrive 17:40 20th May Ha Noi Singapore to Ha Noi: depart 10:05 / arrive 12:20 21st May Hue Ha Noi to Hue: depart
Trang 1TRAVEL REPORT: Dr Colin Cargill
CENTRAL VIETNAM – 21 st to 30 th May 2008
CARD Project (424 7155 01 004/05VIE)
A blueprint for sustainable small holder pig production in Central Vietnam
Participating Agencies:
Vietnam:
National Institution of Animal Husbandry (NIAH) – Dept of Small Livestock Research
Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF) – Faculty of Animal Sciences
National Institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR) – Dept of Bacteriology
Department of Agricultural and Rural Development of Quang Tri Province
Vietnamese farmer Association – Thua Thien Hue
Australia:
The University of Queensland – School of Veterinary Science
South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI)
Department of Primary Industries Victoria – Pig Health and Research Unit
Report Date – 10 th June 2008
OBJECTIVES
1 To travel to Hue Vietnam:
a to review progress of project;
b to participate in a farmer training programs in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue Provinces with colleagues from HUAF (Dr Duyet and Mr Phuong), NIAH (Mr Bien and Ms Cam), NIVR (Dr Tuan and Dr Huyen) and Dr Tony Fahey
2 To travel Ha Noi:
a to visit NIVR to meet with Dr Phu, Dr Huyen, and Dr Tuan and Dr Tony Fahy
b To visit Dr Patrice Gautier a consulting veterinarian with significant experience in Vietnam
Trang 2National Institute of Veterinary Research
Mr Nguyen Huyen Department of Bacteriology National Institute of Veterinary
Research
Mr Au Tuan Department of Bacteriology National Institute of Veterinary
Research
Trang 3TRAVEL SCHEDULE
19th May Singapore Adelaide to Singapore: depart 12:05 / arrive 17:40
20th May Ha Noi Singapore to Ha Noi: depart 10:05 / arrive 12:20
21st May Hue Ha Noi to Hue: depart 10:10 / arrive 11:20
Meeting with colleagues from Hue
22nd May Hue Meetings at HUAF to prepare for Farmer Training program
while waiting for Team members from NIVR and NIAH to arrive
23rd May Hue Visit Phai Dinh Quy Thuong Xa Farm in Quang Tri Province
Visit Phan Quy Farm in Quang Tri Province
24th May Hue Visit Van Tri Tram Farm in Quang Tri Province
Visit Le Minh Hung Farm in Quang Tri Province
25th May Hue Visit Dao Dau – Dai An Khe Farm in Quang Tri Province
Visit Le Thi Nga Farm in Quang Tri Province
26th May Hue Visit Hoang Thuan Farm in Thua Thien Hue Province
Visit Tran Trong Quan Farm in Thua Thien Hue Province
27th May Hue Visit Le Thi Yen Farm in Thua Thien Hue Province
Visit Nguyen Huu Kiem Farm in Thua Thien Hue Province
28th May Hue Training Review Meeting – HUAF Campus
Project Review and Planning Meeting – HUAF Campus
29th May Ha Noi Hue to Ha Noi: depart 12:10 / arrive 13:20
30th May Ha Noi Meeting at NIVR with project leaders
Meeting with Dr Patrice Gautier
31st May Ha Noi Free day
1st June Ha Noi to Jakarta: depart 13:30 / arrive 22:10
2 – 4 June Jakarta Meetings with International Potato Centre, WVI and ACIAR
Country Representative
4th June Jakarta to Singapore: depart 19:05 / arrive 21:45
Singapore to Adelaide: depart 23:45
5th June Adelaide Arrive Adelaide 07:40
Trang 4EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main purpose of the visit was to participate in a farmer training program designed for the project farmers in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue Provinces
Farmer Training
The teams from HUAF and NIAH had been asked to select 6 of the best farms in each Province
as training sites, and to invite 4 to 6 project farmers to each site for the training session The material to be covered in each training session included sow condition scoring, mating and reproduction, feeding and diets, housing and providing an optimal environment for different age groups of pigs, and health including medication and vaccination
Unfortunately our colleagues from NIAH and NIVR were a day late in arriving for the training program so the initial planning meetings were only attended by the team members from HUAF During this meeting we reviewed training materials prepared by Dr Duyet, Mr Phuong and Mr Toan, as well as finalising the medication vaccination schedules and the housing plans and recommendations
Due to a misunderstanding and lack of communication within NIAH, the Quang Tri Team had planned for the training program to take place on one farm with 30 farmers attending the one session However, after further discussion and explanation, Mr Bien was able to reorganise the program as originally planned
Training program in Quang Tri province
The training sites for the program in Quang Tri Province included six farms with an average of 5.25 farmers (3.7 females and 1.3 males) attending each site The scientists from HUAF, NIAH and NIVR worked well together and shared the training amongst the group However, Dr Duyet still seemed to take the majority of sessions, especially mating and reproduction and nutrition While the first 4 farms all had pig sheds built since the commencement of the project, only the first and third farms visited were free-standing rectangular sheds with half open walls on the two longer sides and closed ends with a door However the first shed was aligned roughly north south allowing sun to shine into the shed mornings and afternoons Only the third shed met all the recommendations for building design The second and fourth farms visited were new but attached
to the family home The design of the second farm was OK as it was rectangular in shape with the longer sides half open, but the fourth farm was square and one of the open ends was covered with iron sheets in an attempt to block the sun However, the sun still shone in over the top of the iron which obstructed air movement and created a safety issue The last two farms were connected to the family home and were good examples of sheds which provide a sub-optimal environment for the pigs
The major issues identified on farms in Quang Tri Province
New sheds not being aligned east west to reduce sunburn of pigs and heating of sheds
High temperatures within sheds
No means of cooling sows (every one degree over 200
C feed intake reduces 2%)
Thin sows due to underfeeding
Cold weaners and no “box” supplied
Scouring due to cold wet environment
No ad-lib feeding
Water pressure in nipple drinkers too high
No water available for the majority of the day
Trang 5 Poor ventilation with things like iron sheets, other buildings and shrubs limiting air movement
Mange
Training program in Thua Thien Hue Province
Four farms were selected from the 24 farms in Thua Thien Hue Province as training sites with an average of 5.2 farmers (1.5 females and 3.75 males) attending each site It was interesting that the ratio of females to males in Quang Tri was 2.75 while in Thua Thien Hue it was 2.5 males to every female Again the scientists from HUAF, NIAH and NIVR worked well together and shared the training amongst the group, demonstrating that at this level the Organisations can work well together
The first and fourth farms were free-standing rectangular shaped pig sheds with half open walls
on the longer sides However, the first farmer had placed netting on two sides of the shed which reduced ventilation and had stored large bags in the roof space reducing ventilation and the volume of airspace in the shed The last farm visited had two rectangular shaped sheds and was cooling the rooves with water Side walls were half open but air movement tended to be restricted due to half open shutters hinged in the middle The second and third farms visited were attached
to the family homes and in one case the piggery opened onto the area where the family prepared food and stored eating and cooking utensils
The major issues identified on farms in Thua Thien Hue Province
New sheds not being aligned east west to reduce sunburn of pigs and heating of sheds
High temperatures within sheds
No means of cooling sows
No ad-lib feeding
No water available for the majority of the day
Poor ventilation in piggeries adjacent to family house
Proximity of pigs to family cooking area and storage of eating utensils
Mange
Review of the training program
On the last day of the visit we attempted to have a review of the training program before the scientists from NIAH and NIVR returned to Ha Noi
During our discussion we attempted to make a list of both the strong and weak points in the training program as well as positive and negative points about the farms visited
The strong points included:
Opportunity to show farmers directly
Material easy to understand
The Project Team knew the farmers personally
The weak points included:
Problems over disease prevention and biosecurity - need equipment
o Overalls
o Boots
o Shoe covers
Need to have demonstration farms
o One good farm with all the features we recommend
o One bad farm with few of the features that we recommend
Trang 6 Need longer time-frame to prepare
o Several weeks discussion by email instead of one week
Review of the farms
The positive features
New building aligned east – west
Pig house separated from family home
Water cooling on the roof
Vines growing on roof
Shade trees with no low foliage
Tile rooves
The negative features
Environment for piglets not good on many farms
o Need to
use creep boxes
Keep floors dry
Reduce air movement
Closed openings along side walls
o Need to
Install blinds which open from the top (easy for farmer to open & close)
Inside of sheds too hot
It is important that the Team identify the deficiencies noted on the farms during each visit and ensure that the farmers are aware of them It would also benefit farmers if they were given an explanation as to why each deficiency is important, and how to rectify the deficiency We could also assist our colleagues at NIAH and HUAF in producing training materials that are more professional and providing each participant with a copy at the conclusion of the program
It would also help if there was a greater lead time in planning training programs so that all groups are clear about the concept and the execution In this instance, the final email was only sent 4 days before we were due to meet in Hue and some scientists arrived without having seen the email
Finally I would encourage senior colleagues from each Institute, especially the Vietnamese Project Leader, to have greater participation in the training programs, at least during the initial planning review meeting and post training review meeting
Trang 7Thursday 22 nd May
The concept of farmer training on the “best” farm selected in each districted had not been well understood and in Quang Tri it had been decided to only visit one farm, with all 30 farmers coming to that farm Hence we needed to reschedule the program on Quang Tri so that we visited
6 farms (2 each day) with 4 to 6 farmers invited to each farm Mr Bien did an excellent job in organising the Quang Tri program with little support
re-During the morning we reviewed training materials prepared by Dr Duyet, Mr Phuong and Mr Toan, as well as finalising the medication vaccination schedules and the housing plans and recommendations
Farmer training program in Quang Tri province
Friday 23 rd May
Farm #1 Phai Dinh Quy Thuong Xa Farm
Five farmers attended the training – 3 females and two males
The pig shed was a modern design with open sides and closed ends with a door at each end (Figure 1a), and more importantly the side walls were open
There were 2 monchai sows with body scores of 1.0 and 2.5 One sow had been weaned 5 pigs 30 days previously and the other 7 pigs only 8 days ago, but neither had been on heat There were also 4 monchai gilts from the project
The weaner pigs were cold and scouring despite an air temperature of 31oC and heat index of 38
o
C However the floor was wet and the floor temperature was only 25 oC Although the farmer had been provided with a creep box it was not being used so we invited him to place it in the weaner pen with dry straw in the bottom Over the next 30 minutes the majority of weaner pigs moved from the cold floor to inside the box (figure 1b), confirming its value The floor
temperature inside the box was 29 oC However, we agreed that the creep box needs a larger opening across the front of the box for weaners Water pressure from nipples was also too high (figure 1c) We returned to this farm two days later because the older weaner pigs had classic signs of oedema disease (figure 1d) Interestingly the farmer subsequently claimed all the weaners
in the pens with scours and OD died, and this seemed to be accepted without question, despite it being epidemiologically impossible
Trang 8
Figure 1a – Farm #1 Quang Tri Figure 1b – Pigs in creep box
Figure 1c – High water pressure Figure 1d – Pigs with Oedema Disease
Farm #2 Phan Quy Farm
Five farmers, including the owner, were present – 3 females and one male
The farm was a new building but attached to the house on one end The western side of the building was totally open, and half of the eastern side allowing reasonable cross ventilation (figure 2a) The floor temperature was 31 oC, the air temperature 33 oC, the HI 45.2 and humidity 63%
The farm had 3 monchai sows One sow with a litter of 10 pigs was being treated for mastitis and the other two had been weaned and mated There were also 2 xbred gilts and 3 monchai gilts from the project
No water was available and pigs were not being fed ad-lib
Figure 2a – Pig shed with open side walls Figure 2b – Creep box for suckers with milk
supplement
Trang 9Saturday 24 th May
Farm #3 Van Tri Tram Farm
Seven farmers including the owner were present – 6 females and one male
The pig house was new since our last visit to this farm and the building was aligned roughly east west with open side walls that faced roughly north south There was good cross ventilation and the side walls were not covered with blinds (figure 3a) There was no ridge vent but ventilation was good
The air temperature was 32 oC, the HI 39.5 and humidity 66% with air movement at 2m/sec There were 4 monchai sows, one small exotic sow and 6 monchai gilts from the project The small exotic sow had 6 piglets in a creep box (figure 3b) with a 25 day old scour Piglets are all sold at 7 kg liveweight Fertility seemed good because one sow had been weaned 100 days, one
70 days, one 50 days, and one about to farrow All had been mated about 5 days post weaning
No water was supplied to any of the pens and none was available to pigs in the pens Pigs were not being fed ad-lib
Figure 3a – Pig shed with open side walls Figure 3b – Creep box for suckers with milk
supplement
Farm #4 Le Minh Hung Farm
Four farmers were present – 3 females and one male
The pig house was very wide with rows of pens the length of the shed (figure 4a) The shed had been added onto and this was a major error in design It adjoined the house on the southern side and was open along the eastern and western sides There were sheets of iron standing against the western wall to protect pigs from the sun but the effect was to severely limit ventilation (figure 4b)
There were 5 monchai sows, 3 monchai gilts and one exotic sow with 13 piglets There were 14 weaners One sow was lame and needed to be euthanised No water was supplied or available to any pens or pigs and feeding was again not ad-lib
The floor temperature was 28oC, air temperature 33.4 oC, and Hi 43
Obvious improvements that could be made were to install fans, add a ridge vent, place a blind on the western side that could be opened from the top and grow shade trees with thin trunks along the western side
Trang 10Figure 4a – Pig shed with open side
walls but very wide across
Figure 4b – Iron sued to stop ventilation and create OH&S issue
Sunday 25 th May
Farm #5 Dao Dau – Dai An Khe Farm
Five farmers attended including owner and wife – 3 females and 2 males
The building was an old-style design in an L-shape (figure 5a) It had an open front
approximately 1.8 m high and the back was approx 1.3 m high Although there was good
overhang for protection from the sun, there was little ventilation and the pens were wet and dirty The HI was 45, the roof 50oC, air temperature 34oC, and humidity 65%
There were 3 mated monchai sows, one was due to farrow in 7 days, another in 1 month and one that was mated 3 days ago (7 days postweaning after a 30 day lactation).There was also one monchai gilt The farm was a bad choice for a farmer training program because there was little that could be recommended as best practice
However, the farmer was preparing to build a new piggery at a distance from the house and existing piggery (figure 5b) Unfortunately he did not seem to be asking any members of the team such as Mr Bien for input for the design and alignment of the building
Figure 5a – L-shaped pig shed Figure 4b – Site for proposed new pig house
Farm #6 Le Thi Nga Farm
Five farmers were present – 4 females and one male. oC
Again it was an older style building attached to the house However it was open on the two longest sides (figure 6a) but ventilation was reduced by other buildings and a banana plantation (figure 6b)
The heat index was 48, the air temperature 35 oC, and the roof temperature 48 oC
Trang 11There were 2 monchai sows, one with a 4 week old litter with 7 females and 6 male piglets and the other was mated 4 weeks ago 3 days pw There were also 2 monchai gilts and 2 grower pigs The shed was very hot and uncomfortable with the very hot roof radiating heat onto the pigs The question posed to our colleagues was how to make the shed cooler
Figure 6a – Pig shed with open side walls Figure 6b – Ventilation limited by buildings
and banana plantation
Major issues identified on farms in Quang Tri Province
New sheds not being aligned east west to reduce sunburn of pigs and heating of sheds
High shed temperatures (Note: every one degree over 200
C feed intake reduces 2%)
No means of cooling sows
Thin sows due to underfeeding
Cold weaners and no “box” supplied
Scouring due to cold wet environment
No ad-lib feeding
Water pressure in nipple drinkers too high
No water available for the majority of the day
Poor ventilation with things like iron sheets, other buildings and shrubs limiting air movement
Mange
Trang 12Farmer training program in Thua Thien Hue Province
Monday 26 th May
Farm #7 - Hoang Thuan Farm
Four farmers plus one female extension worker present – 1 female and 3 males
The farm had been visited each trip and although a well designed shed with ridge vent (figure 7a), the standard of ventilation has been reduced at each subsequent visit On this visit there were bags stored in the roof space (figure 7b) and a mesh supposedly to keep flies and birds out of the piggery had been attached to the walls However, it did not completely surround the building and hence did not prevent access for flies and birds It did however reduce the ventilation rate
The HI was 40.5 and ventilation or air movement minimal
There were 7 Monchai sows – one had farrowed 5 days ago with 13 piglets, 3 sows farrowed 20
to 40 days ago with 11, 7 and 9 piglets respectively, and 3 were dry
There were also 8 gilts waiting for slaughter at 75 to 80 kg and 22 fatteners
All but one pen were supplied with nipple drinkers, but pigs in that one pen did not have access to water (figure 7c)
A creep box with a light and open lid was being used for piglets However, it would have been better to close the lid and remove the light A fan was being used to cool the sow (figure 7d) Figure 7a – well designed building with ridge
vent and open sided walls
Figure 7b – bags stored in roof space and mesh
on walls reduce ventilation rate
Figure 7c – pigs in pen with no access to water Figure 2d – creep box for piglets and fan for
sow
Trang 13Farm #8 Tran Trong Quan Farm in Thua Thien Hue Province
There were 7 farmers – 4 male and 3 female – plus 2 veterinarians
The piggery was attached to the house and opened onto the family’s cooking area and where eating utensils were stored (figure 8a)
Dr Duyet had advised the farmer to remove the back wall to increase ventilation but the increased opening was blocked by thick vegetation and the toilet block inhibited air movement from the other side (figure 8b)
There were 7 monchai dry sows and one sow with a litter of 16 pigs (13 female and 3 male) The HI was 44.7, air temperature 34.30C and humidity 60%
The roof temperature varied according to materials – tile 540C; Fibro 540C, and tin 580C
The owner was installing a biogas system at a cost of 5 million VND for effluent because of the limited space available for disposal
There was considerable discussion at the end of the visit about vaccine supply
Figure 8a – piggery attached to house adjacent
to family cooking area and eating utensils
Figure 8b – opened back wall but will little ventilation
Tuesday 27 th May
Farm #9 Le Thi Yen Farm
There were 5 farmers present – 1 female and 4 males
The piggery was another “lean-to” attached to the house with few cross ventilation possibilities Although the outside wall was only half solid the open section was closed with a blind (figure 9a)
The air temperature was 31.20C, the HI 40.5and humidity 76%
There were two areas, one with a tin roof and one with tiles The temperature of the tin roof was
530C compared with 440C for the tile roof The HI under the tin roof was 43.5 compared with 37.6 under the tiles – a difference of 5.9 degrees
There were 3 monchai sows and one F1 fattener There were 3 litters – with 5, 8 and 9 piglets
It was difficult to understand why this farm was selected as training venue as there were few positive things to highlight for other farmers One positive point was that the farmer had widened the opening for his creep boxes across the front of the box (figure 9b) but again the box had a lamp for heating but an open lid
The neighbouring farm was also visited and while this farm provided a better venue for a training program, the open sections of the side walls were covered with blinds (figure 9c)
There was also a shed full of birds adjacent to the piggery (figure 9d)
Trang 14Figure 9a – outside wall half closed with
plastic blind blocking air movement
Figure 9b – Box with open lid and lamp for heating plus a wide opening across the front
Figure 9c – Shed with side walls covered with
plastic to prevent air movement
Figure 9d – birds in shed adjacent to piggery
Farm #10 Nguyen Huu Kiem Farm
There were 5 farmers present – 4 males and one female
The farm consisted of 2 modern long narrow sheds with open side walls However ventilation was restricted because of the side shutters which reduced air movent across the shed figure 10b) Sows were in one shed and progeny in the other The farm had been affected by PRRS and the number of progeny was reduced accordingly
This was the only farm with a cooling system which consisted of water running off the roof (figure 10c) However, many of the sows had skin lesions which may have been associated with the wet floors (figure 10d)
There were 15 F1 sows and 5 monchai sows and dry sows were confined in stalls
The HI was 47.8, air temperature was 34.80C, roof temperature was 320C (showing the advantage
of running water) and floor temperature 290C
Trang 15Figure 10a – Modern design with open sides Figure 10b – openings restricted by shutters
which limit air movement
Figure 9c – water running on roof to cool shed Figure 10d – sows with skin lesions
Major issues identified on farms in Thua Thien Hue Province
New sheds not being aligned east west to reduce sunburn of pigs and heating of sheds
High temperatures and no means of cooling sows
No ad-lib feeding
No water available for the majority of the day
Poor ventilation in piggeries adjacent to family house
Proximity of pigs to family cooking area and storage of eating utensils
Mange
Trang 16Wednesday 28 May
Review meeting at HUAF
Present: Dr Tony Fahy, Dr Colin Cargill, Dr Hoang Duyet,Mr Dang Bien, Mr Ho Ngoc Phuong, Dr Au Tuan, Ms Cam, and Dr Nguyen Huyen
Review of the training program
During a brief discussion we attempted to list the strong and weak points in the program
The strong points included:
Opportunity to show farmers directly
Material easy to understand
The Project Team knew the farmers personally
The weak points included:
Problems over disease prevention and biosecurity - need equipment
o Overalls
o Boots
o Shoe covers
Need to have demonstration farms
o One good farm with all the features we recommend
o One bad farm with few features that we recommend
Need longer time-frame to prepare
o Several months discussion by email instead of one week
Review of the farms
The positive features
New building aligned east – west
Pig house separated from family home
Water cooling on the roof
Vines growing on roof
Shade trees with no low foliage
Tile rooves
The negative features
Environment for piglets not good on many farms
o Need to
use creep boxes
Keep floors dry
Reduce air movement
Closed openings along side walls
o Need to
Install blinds which open from the top (easy for farmer to open & close)
Inside of sheds too hot