Improving technologies for a modern milk industry

At the dairy exhibition in Hanoi from June 1 to 4, technology was highlighted as the key factor for dairy producers to lead the field and enhance productivity.

Hoang Kim Giao, chairman of the Vietnam Large Cattle Breeding Association and former director of the Department of Livestock Production said, “The demand for milk is increasing all over the world, and Vietnam is no exception, so we have to increase the number of dairy cows quickly. Therefore, numerous cutting-edge technical solutions are being researched and applied to maximise milk production.”

TH Group has imported 24 batches of high-productivity Holstein Friesian (HF) purebred dairy cows from New Zealand and the US to Vietnam.

If the IVF project is successful, TH will manage the technology to produce purebred HF dairy cows with the same quality and milk yield as the leading US breeds and deliver them to dairy farms around the country.

Gilad Efrat, CTO of TH Milk Food JSC (THMF) stated, “IVF aims to select cows with the highest genetic potential to obtain embryogenic eggs and produce female calves. They will be the top quality individuals from the selected herd and used to continue breeding.”

A representative of THMF confirmed that with the current implementation progress, TH Group is expected to produce 5,000-6,000 embryos per year in the first phase. At a later stage, the business will also produce embryos for other dairy projects.

Giao said that before TH Group stepped in to invest in dairy farming, Vietnam mainly imported dairy cows from Cuba, New Zealand, and Australia. Many F1 and F2 hybrid dairy cows were not purebred, so the quality of milk production was low and it caused losses for farmers.

Last week, the Moc Chau dairy paradise complex – including farms, high-tech dairy processing factories, and eco-tourism – with an investment of nearly $130 million was approved by Moc Chau Dairy Cattle Breeding JSC and Vietnam Dairy Products JSC and construction began on May 28.

It will be a closed agricultural ecosystem, including a high-tech dairy farm combining eco-tourism and an advanced dairy processing factory, located on an area of ​​150 hectares. It is one of the largest ever high-tech agriculture projects in the country.

The project consists of a herd of 4,000 dairy cows and will provide 20 million litres of fresh milk per year. The farm will use modern technology and equipment that meets the latest international standards and is environmentally friendly.

The second item within the project is the Moc Chau high-tech milk processing factory, with an area of ​​26 hectares. The total investment in the two phases of this factory will reach $87 million and it will have a capacity of nearly 500 tonnes of milk per day.

The factory is designed with a green architectural model in accordance with the natural landscape of Moc Chau. It will implement 4.0 technology in its management and operational systems, help protect the environment, and ensure targets for sustainable development.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Dairy Association, the output of milk usually reports annual growth of about 5-10 per cent.

Dairy import turnover in 2021 stood at $1.1 trillion, an increase of 12.5 per cent on-year. Milk and its products have already been exported to 56 countries and territories, generating about $300 million of annual turnover.

Thanks to the continuous enhancement of technology, the output of dairy has increased by about 50 per cent since 2015 and is expected to grow significantly in the time to come.

"The dairy industry has been developing well and sustainably. Thanks to modern and synchronous production, improvements have been made to its competitiveness, strengthening regional and international integration and meeting the increasing demands of society," concluded Giao.