The HCM City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development unveiled on Thursday a project to improve competitiveness and food safety for the livestock industry.
The project is part of the national Livestock Competitiveness and Food Safety Project that aims to increase the production efficiency of household-based livestock producers, reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, processing and marketing, and improve food safety in livestock product supply chains (mainly meat) in selected districts.
The project, to be implemented until December 2015, comprises two components: the first focuses on upgrading household-based livestock production and market integration, while the second focuses on project management, monitoring and evaluation.
Under the project, good animal husbandry practices (GAHP) will be applied at breeding farms in concentrated breeding districts, including Cu Chi and Hoc Mon. More waste treatment facilities will be built at these districts to treat residues from breeding farms to minimise negative environmental impacts, said Nguyen Phuoc Trung, the department’s deputy director.
The project also seeks to upgrade 40 fresh food markets and 10 slaughterhouses in selected districts in the city to improve food safety at these sites, he said.
It will establish and operate a food product tracing and quality control system from producing animal feed to breeding farms, slaughterhouses and consumption.
The project is estimated to cost US$6 million, of which over $5 million will be borrowed from the International Development Association, the city will provide corresponding capital of $286,410 and beneficiaries will contribute the rest.
The $79 million national project, six-year project (2010-15) is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 12 localities – Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Cao Bang, HCM City, Long An, Dong Nai and Lam Dong.
