Recent Research and Development of Dairy Goat Production in Vietnam

Abstract

Goat production is well developed in different regions of Vietnam due to abundant feed resources, suitable climate and good raising experiences with the total goat population of 1,591,000 heads in 2014, in which there are 204,000 heads of dairy goats. There are many dairy goat production models created by producers, which show the technical and economic effectiveness for production contributing to the poor alleviation and prosperous income. Goat milk and milk products have the high demand and price in the domestic markets. Besides, goat meat is liked by the consumers with the highest price compared to beef or other meats. Therefore, dairy goat production is developed in both cities and rural areas. In this paper, the current situation development, research results on breeds, nutrition, feed resources, dairy goat performance and reproduction, markets and development strategies are presented. The constraints of production development such as low breed quality, few intensive large farms, limited necessary studies, poor marketing and less international co-operation are also discussed.