Breeding and feeding pigs in Australia and Vietnam

• Institute of Agricultural Sciences of South Vietnam, Vietnam
• James Cook University, Australia

Vietnam has about 14 million pigs with most kept in small holdings of 10 to 20 animals. Few farms have more than 500 pigs, but this sector was marked for growth with rising demand for lean carcasses through more efficient production.

However, expansion of lean pork production was limited. Native breeds are slow growing, small and fat, and were therefore unsuitable for commercial pig-meat enterprises. Breeds and strains introduced from Europe have adapted poorly to the local environment, and the nutrient-dense cereal-based feeds they require are not economic.

Producers in warmer areas of Australia, with environmental challenges similar to those encountered in Vietnam, had found that lean pig strains from Europe experienced heat stress that reduces appetite and growth rates and sometimes causes death. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) has worked for many years to overcome these problems, and its research has attracted interest in Southeast Asia.

This project aimed to utilise the group's expertise in pig genetics and nutrition to develop means to improve the productivity of the pig-meat industries in Vietnam and Australia. Collaborative research in the two countries investigated genetic ways to overcome the limits to efficient growth of lean pork through factors that reduce the efficiency of food utilisation through high-fat deposition and poor appetite. They examined the chemical and nutritional properties of alternative feed ingredients with the aim of formulating cheaper, yet optimum, diets for the pigs.

Australian Large White and Duroc pigs were used as benchmarks in the pig improvement studies. At the start of the project about 40 young breeding pigs of two breeds - Australian Large White and Duroc - were flown to Vietnam. The growth, production efficiency and carcass characteristics of their offspring were compared with those of local breeds and strains, allowing strains to be ranked and the best identified.

Aided by literature from 30 years of genetics research in QDPI the scientists produced a selection protocol that resulted in the development of a pig genotype with a high growth rate, lean carcass, good appetite and high resistance to stress. Application of the protocol helped selection of breeding stock for Vietnam. As the herd numbers increased further performance testing identified the best boars.

Nutrition work began with the identification of non-conventional feeds. Laboratory analyses of chemical composition indicated nutritive worth and compared different feeds. Live animal studies presented a more accurate assessment of nutritive worth.

Two 'least-cost' diets were formulated, using traditional, and non-traditional ingredients. Trials ascertained the value of non-traditional feedstuffs. Other work determined requirements of different pig strains for digestible energy and amino acids, and assessed a technique to allow rapid assessment of nutrient requirements for maximum lean growth.

Some of the best boars selected from the crosses between the Australian and Vietnamese types are now used for mating on local farms and the semen of others is being made available through Artificial Insemination Centres, for the benefit of smallholder farmers. Thus the project started contributing very quickly to the genetic improvement of Vietnam's pig population.

A survey of pig feeds from local ingredients revealed that many byproducts of human food could be rendered suitable for feed with the application of minimal treatment. Trials looked for the true nutritive value of the feeds by determining how efficiently pigs utilised the various protein components provided in their feed. Low-cost feeds from local ingredients were formulated.

Poor farmers have benefited financially through the development of the low-cost diet, representing a saving of 2-5% compared with traditional diets. Price increases on the sale of their pigs (produced from the improved breeding stock) of approximately 3000 - 5000 dong ($0.40 - 0.66) per kg (market-age pigs weigh 90-100kg). Approximately 70,000 offspring (piglets) of the imported Australian pigs are estimated to have been produced by smallholder farmers in one province alone - representing an increase from 1 to 2.5 per litter more than from local boars

Emerging issues included the need for more training in experimental design, record keeping, data management and analysis. There was also a call for both Australian and Vietnamese scientists to move away from an intensively analytical approach and adopt more practical measures in designing pig feed supplements (particularly amino acid levels in diets) and in determining potential sources of pig feed.

An economic assessment of the potential impact indicates benefits of 150:1. Much of this achievement is due to Prof Hai, the Director of the Centre, who has maintained his focus on the delivery of benefits, while the Australians and a number of his Vietnamese colleagues have been more interested in the science and training. The second benefit is the development of skills in the Vietnam team-including one exceptional John Allwright Fellow, Nguyen Van Nguyen.