The Vietnam Husbandry Association is urging the country's dairy industryto develop its cattle and use modern technologies so it could diversifyand raise the quality of its products.

Nguyen Dang Vang,President of the Vietnam Husbandry Association, said the country wasaiming to meet 60 percent of domestic demand for fresh milk for ananticipated population of about 113 million in 2045. To achieve this,the country must develop a herd capable of producing 5.65 million tonnesof milk per year.

The country's domestic fresh milk productionin 2013 was 456,400 tonnes, equivalent to 5.1 litres per capita peryear. This satisfied only 28 percent of the country's demand, withimported fresh milk satisfying the remaining 72 percent. Last year, thecountry's average annual per capita consumption of fresh milk was 18litres.

From August 2007 to August 2008, Vietnam imported morethan 5.7 billion USD worth of milk and dairy products, representing anannual increase of 14 percent. In 2013 alone, milk and dairy productimports were worth 1.089 billion USD.

By 2045, Vietnam willstill have to import 2.25 million tonnes of milk worth 3.6 billion USDevery year, to raise annual average per capita milk consumption to 50litres, or just 60 percent of Japan's current consumption levels.

Vangsaid Vietnam should focus on developing large-scale dairy farms whileusing high-technology dairy farming techniques, and noted thatsmall-scale dairy farms accounted for up to 66 percent of domesticproduction.

Figures from the Vietnam Dairy Association showedthat as of April 1, the country had 200,400 cows, a 14-percent increaseover that of last year and a 67-percent increase over that of 2010.

Inrecent years, several companies invested heavily in the development ofdairy farms. The country currently has 15 farms with 1,000 to 5,700cows, and five more are in the pipeline, altogether accounting for 30percent of domestic fresh milk production.

However, Vietnam'sdairy farming scale remains small. Figures from 14 provinces and fourcompanies showed that in 2013, a farming household raised an average of9.3 cows.

This is higher than that of Indonesia, with three cowsper household, but is a far cry from that of Japan, with 72 cows perhousehold; the United States, with 96 cows per household; and Taiwan,with 126 cows per household.

In addition, the productivity ofthe average cow in Vietnam remained low in comparison with that othercountries and territories with the same dairy farming advantages. Thehusbandry association predicts that by 2045, Vietnam's cow productivitycould reach that of Taiwan.

According to Nguyen QuocKhanh,Executive Director of Vinamilk, which holds 50 percent of Vietnam's milkmarket, dairy companies should provide farming households with trainingand support in modern techniques to ensure the development of dairyfarming areas.

He said that investing in modern milk processingplants was also essential to ensure diversification and qualityenhancement of products, as well as the upgrading of levels ofcompetitiveness and capability to meet consumer demand.

Expertssaid the country also needed a national management system for dairycattle and measures to protect domestic production, such as theapplication of import quotas.

Vu Ngoc Quynh, General Secretaryof the Vietnam Dairy Association, said the dairy industry's developmentwas in line with the Government plan to meet domestic demand whileexpanding in the world market.

Vietnam is one of a few countriesin Asia that are earning from milk exports. In 2013, the country'sexport turnover for milk products reached 230 million USD, mostly fromVinamilk.-VNA