Dairy technology: Need grassland and clean water!

By 2010, the number of dairy cows must meet over 40% of domestic milk consumption . However, livestock experts fear that Vietnamese dairy cows lack green grass and clean water!

Cows not only need enough food and clean water but also need fresh air, clean resting place and comfortable travel. Cows that live in a pleasant environment give more milk, healthier, longer life .

Green grass: The challenge of developing dairy herds

Vietnamese dairy cows often live in limited space, noise, lack of light, water sources do not guarantee . This has partly limited the ability to increase milk production of cows.(Photo: H.Cat)

According to MSc. Pham Ho Hai, Livestock Technology Research Department - Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, stands at the angle of breeding technology, milk quality depends on three factors: seed, foster care and disease management issues.

"There have been many projects to import pure cows from Australia, New Zealand, Cuba to raise, especially focusing on the breed at Ba Vi dairy cow. Most of the imported cows are temperate cows, so for the In the South, raising pure dairy cows is greatly affected by weather and food, "MA . Hai said.

Currently popular dairy cows, especially Holstein Frisian high-yielding dairy cows (of Dutch origin), have 50% - 87.5% of cold-milk cow's blood. Therefore, their ability to tolerate hot and humid tropical climate is poor.

Mr. Hoang Kim Giao, Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock Production - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the two places with the best climatic conditions for dairy cows are Lam Dong and Moc Chau. In particular, the Moc Chau dairy herd is better cared for.

Ms. Vu Thi Nhu, owner of the dairy cow has just won the highest milk cow prize in the contest and the cow won the " runner-up " prize of the Moc Chau Dairy Cow Missing Contest - 2007, one of the secrets To produce more milk is the herd of dairy cows that live in a quiet environment. Each cow has a large enough space to walk and move. Thanks to that, strong limbs and muscular muscles.

Located in Moc Chau town, Son La province, 194 km northwest of Hanoi, Moc Chau farm has a total natural area of ​​about 1,600 ha, of which agricultural land accounts for 969 ha. The total number of dairy cows is over 3,500, producing over 10,000 tons of milk annually. In which more than 3,200 cows are Holstein Frisian high-yielding cows.

According to the Prime Minister's Decision No. 167/2001 / QD-TTg dated October 26, 2001, dairy farming will be developed to meet domestic demand for milk, gradually replacing imported milk.

By 2010, the number of dairy cows must meet over 40% of domestic milk consumption;after 2010, reaching 1 million tons of milk.

In recent times, Vietnamese people are gradually changing their habits.They focus on milk and milk quality.Quality of standard milk usually meets some criteria such as: dry matter (12.5%), fat (> 3.5%), protein (3.3 - 3.5%), lacto (4 , 5%).In addition, fresh milk must ensure microbiological criteria, no pathogenic bacteria like E.Coli, Samonella .

But according to Mr. Giao, even where it is considered the most advantageous to develop dairy cows like Moc Chau, the area for grazing is still very limited. The land area is mainly devoted to growing grass.

"The drawback of Vietnam is that it is difficult to find dairy farms with green pastures. The grasslands in Vietnam are very narrow. The grass is mainly grown outside, and brought to the barn for cows to eat. So The time of stocking cows in Vietnam is very short while abroad, people can drop cows to the fields almost all day, " Giao said.

Each dairy cow needs 150 liters of water per day

Dairy herds in Vietnam often live in limited space, noise, lack of light, water sources do not guarantee . This has partly limited the ability to increase milk production of cows.

Not only that . studies show that feeding and feeding sources for cows are becoming increasingly important . The amount of milk produced depends mainly on the quantity and quality of feed that the cow eats. The diet for dairy cows is quite strict. The amount of fresh grass must be abundant and diverse, such as elephant grass, signal grass, oat grass, star grass . In addition, to produce 10kg of milk (equivalent to 10 liters of milk), cows need 4kg more concentrate. Every day, including: corn, rice bran, soybean meal, bone meal, vitamins and minerals.

In addition, it is important to mention that a very important factor with the milk production of cows is water.

90% of milk is water, so it is not surprising that cow's drinking water has a great effect on milk production. When cows are provided with enough clean water, cows will drink more, eat more and produce more milk.

This may sound simple, but the volume of water must be provided to the herd. A kilogram of dry matter, cows absorbed will need up to 5 liters of water. Cow will need at least 3 liters of water to make a liter of milk. This means that high-yielding cows will need more than 150 liters of water daily.

With a hot and dry climate, this amount of water will be higher. Cows like to drink quickly - up to 20 liters / minute. If this level is not achieved, the amount of water absorbed may be reduced and milk production will be affected. For example, a 40% reduction in water absorption could reduce milk production by 25%.

Livestock experts worry that Vietnamese dairy cows lack green grass and clean water.(Photo: H.Cat)

It is very important to talk about water, which is water quality . Cows like to drink clean and cool water, even they are more sensitive to water quality than humans. Not only that, dairy farming depends heavily on grass, but grass for cows also contains up to 90% of water. Through soil, grass absorbs water and supplies it to cows.

Combined with other factors such as designing barns, milking systems, taking care of cows . to create a comfortable living environment for cows, Vietnamese dairy herd will be improved and grown. in no time.

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