HCM City (VNA) - Vietnam’s swiftbreeding industry has potential to compete with regional producers if it meetsquality standards, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentMinistry Vu Van Tam said at a conference held recently in Ho Chi Minh City.

Organised by the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development (MARD), the conference saw the attendance of representatives from11 provinces with bird nest operations and officials from MARD and otheragencies.

Nguyen Van Trong, deputy head of MARD’s AnimalHusbandry Department, said bird nest businesses had been operating since 2004,mainly in southern provinces and cities.

According to preliminary statistics from theprovinces, the country has 32 provinces with more than 4,280 birdhouses swiftbreeders, mostly in provinces in the Mekong Delta, southeast andcentral-coastal regions.

“However, the bird’s nest business faces manyshortcomings, especially in planning,” Trong said.

More than 90 percent of bird nest farming arelocated in residential areas and in residents’ houses, leading to manycomplaints from locals.

In addition, there are no specific regulationsthat manage the location of birdhouses for swifts, making it difficult forlocalities to manage and plan, Trong said.

For instance, Binh Dinh province has recordednearly 130 households that breed swifts in Quy Nhon city. Of these, there are39 households located in residential areas.

Huynh Ngoc Diep, deputy head of the Binh Dinh province’s Sub-departmentof Animal Husbandry and Health, said that most households arebreeding swifts without any advanced planning.

“They renovated their houses to serveas farms and use loudspeakers to lure birds round the clock,” causingnoise and environmental pollution and a risk of disease.

Representatives from other provinces alsoreported the same problems.

Do Tu Quan from the Yen Quan Vietnamese BirdNest Company said that domestic bird’s nest has good quality compared to thosefrom other countries.

However, though they have potential to boostexports with high demand, especially to the Chinese market, they are facingproblems. They are exported in small amounts and are mainly sold to tourists,Quan said.

Vietnamese Salangane nests (Yen sao inVietnamese) have not label and origin of products, while businesses havenot signed a protocol on importing and exporting bird’s nest products, Quan said.

An average of 1,000 swifts make about 400 nestsin one season, with each nest about 10 grammes, according to the HCM City-basedInstitute of Tropical Biology.

The price of bird nest’s increased sharply inthe first months of the year, Quan said.

Last year, raw bird’s nest were priced at 15-16million VND (660-703 USD) per kilo. It is priced at 23-24 million VND (1,010-1,054USD) per kilo, even up to 30 million VND (1,318 USD) in some localities.

Vietnamese processed bird nests are priced at 100million VND (4,390 USD) per kilo, but are sold at higher prices of 200-300million VND (8,785-13,175 USD) per kilo in the Chinese market.

Representatives from localities and companiesasked the Government to have specific regulations on management and developmentof bird nest farming, and to build quality standards and national brand forVietnamese Salangane nest products.

Deputy Minister of MARD Vu Van Tam said that Vietnamhas favourable weather and good potential for farming swifts for their nests.

Investment and support from the State in scienceand technology are needed, he said, adding that the ministry and relatedagencies would speed up legal procedures to ensure environmental security andprevent epidemic threats.

He also asked the MARD’s Animal HusbandryDepartment, in collaboration with local bird nest firms, to arrange siteinspection trips to foreign markets such as China, Malaysia and Indonesiato learn about requirements and conditions, from breeding to processing to exportof products.

He said the Vietnamese SwiftletFarming Association under the Vietnam Farms and AgriculturalEnterprises Association should be reorganised and take on a more visible roleas a bridge between companies and state agencies to build brandsand create business strategies.-VNA