WHO IS WHO IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY OF VIETNAM
Nearly 80 percent of Viet Nam’s population is working in agriculture. Dairy cattle had been brought to Viet Nam in the 1920's, but upon today it is not strongly developed yet.
The main sectors involved in the dairy industry of Vietnam are: farmers, consumers, processors, suppliers, dairy experts and Vet and AI technicians. All of them have an important role to play in dairy. Further more they are all linked and affected by each other.
FARMERS
Most of the farmers in Vietnam are small scaled and struggle with a lack of resources. As a result they are poorly equipped and the don’t have the financial possibilities to invest in adequate equipment. Besides they have to deal with a shortage of land and most of them still stick to a less efficient and traditional way of managing their farm.
The focus of a dairy farmer is vegetable and livestock production. Of course the main aim is to produce milk. Farmers need to take their responsibility in making a quality product that can meet the standards of food safety and hygiene. Two times a day the farmers bring their milk to the nearest milk collection point, where it will be stored in cooled bulk tanks. On regularly basis the processing companies pick up the milk in the collection points and bring it to the factory for processing.
CONSUMERS
Milk and milk products play an important role in a balanced and diversified nutrition. Consequently most of the people can be seen as consumers.
Moreover, the preferences of the consumers have direct influence on the market. The processing companies will adapt their production and the diversity of dairy products according to the demand of the consumers.
Day by day consumers become more critical, more skeptical and more demanding in terms of quality and safety. As a result, consumers are enhancing a positive trend in the dairy industry to produce high quality and safe dairy products in Vietnam.
PROCESSORS
All over the country, processing companies are collecting fresh milk from the milk collection points. Actually, some processing companies set up their own milk collection points in order to collect the milk easily and quickly. The processing companies process raw materials such as milk powder, whey and fresh milk into a variety of dairy products. We distinguish pasteurized milk, yoghurt, butter, cheese and ice-cream.
In Ha Tay province (Ba Vi) many people take over the role of the processing companies and produce dairy products by themselves. These people can be farmers or individuals who buy fresh milk from the neighboring farms and transform it into yoghurt, ice cream, milk cake or bottled milk.
SUPPLIERS
Suppliers are companies which supply equipments and raw materials for farmers, companies and dairy experts. The price and the quality of the delivered products have a strong influence on the productivity and the profitability of the industry. The use of new equipments and technologies can also results in a gain of time and consequently improves the profitability of the concerns.
Suppliers can be divided in major groups, according to the products they deliver:
- Milking, cooling and processing equipments.
- Milk testing equipment.
- Farming tools.
- Food.
- Veterinary medicine and veterinary tools.
- Frozen sperm and A.I. equipment.
DAIRY EXPERTS
The dairy experts are specialist in dairy husbandry. They are experienced people which are professionally involved in the dairy sector. For example researchers in the universities, people who work in the governmental institutes. They are the men who research in advance to make dairy farming easier and more effective. They also help the government to set up the policies in dairy development.
VET& A.I. TECHNICIANS
A vet or a veterinarian is a person that is trained and educated, to provide medical and surgical care for domestic animals. His job is to examine, evaluate and treat the animals.
We can distinguish two kinds of vet’s in Vietnam. First of all you have the government vet’s. They take care of the implementation of Vietnam’s policies in terms of animal husbandry and veterinary services. They manage and make sure that the regulations are followed and implemented.
Secondly, the private vet’s are the veterinaries in the field. They are close to the farmers, have a larger field experience and provide the adequate treatments for the animals.
Artificial insemination (AI) is when sperm is placed into a female cow’s uterus using artificial means rather than by natural ways. Modern techniques for artificial insemination were first developed for the dairy cattle industry to allow many cows to be impregnated with the sperm of a bull. The main aim is to improve the genetic characteristics of the herd in a quick and efficient way. A.I. technicians need to be skillful, precise and patient. To obtain acceptable conception rates, it is important to have a good technique in order to deposit the semen at the right time and at the right place. |
Introduction
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