The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) inked a Memorandum of Understanding on livestock research in Hanoi on August 17.

The document focuses on matters of shared concern such as building a sustainable agricultural system based on the development of livestock and crop farming, advancing value chains and minimising recurrent adverse impacts and risks in the local agriculture.

The two sides at the signing ceremony. Photo: dangcongsan.vn

The ILRI will offer scientific and technological support in research activities and measures to promote Vietnam’s livestock value chains to ensure the sector is aligned with the market and help it develop sustainably, said Assistant Director General for the ILRI Institutional Planning and Partnerships Shirley Tarawali.

MARD Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam said a key solution to restructuring Vietnam’s livestock industry is the application of science and technology, critical to boosting sci-tech research cooperation with international organisations.

Meanwhile, rapid globalisation and the implementation of pledges to open the milk and livestock product markets poses great challenges to Vietnam’s animal husbandry, which requires reform in research activities and close collaboration among research institutes as well as between research institutes and State managerial agencies, he added.

During almost 10 years of official cooperation, the MARD and the ILRI have effectively carried out a number of joint programmes and research activities in the livestock industry, including indigenous breed preservation, food safety, animal feed production and preventing diseases transmitted from animals to humans.

Source: VNA