The story of antibiotics in livestock is still heating up day by day, hour by hour, being constantly mentioned by the media and the press and is considered a “tumor” of the livestock industry. Faced with new challenges and opportunities, antibiotic-free farming is a mandatory direction to transform the industry. However, the solution to this problem is not one’s own!
Current Status
The story of antibiotics in livestock is still an alarming situation not only in our country but also around the world. Antibiotic resistance could send humanity back to the dark ages, pushing 28 million people into poverty and claiming 10 million lives every year right in the middle of the 21st century. is a consequence of the overuse of antibiotics and antibiotic preparations in agriculture. In Vietnam, the use of antibiotics is a “common thing” in the livestock industry. A series of phrases are mentioned when it comes to indiscriminate use of antibiotics, antibiotic residues such as “problem”, “burden”, “obsess”, “danger”, “alarm”, “ghost”, This situation has destroyed the environment, destroyed the economy of many farmers and damaged the brand of Vietnamese livestock in the international market.
Antibiotic-free farming is the direction of many countries around the world
According to Dr. Pham Kim Dang, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Vietnam Academy of Agriculture: “The harm of using antibiotics other than human consumption of livestock products with antibiotic residues will affect health immediately because the dose is very low. . The concern here is that the discovery of antibiotics in meat, evidence of abuse, illegal use or unscientific use of antibiotics in livestock will increase the risk of antibiotic resistance of microorganisms, especially especially pathogenic microorganisms, leading to the treatment of diseases with antibiotics later on encounters many difficulties”.
The abuse of antibiotics and banned chemicals is a problem in livestock production that needs to be solved early and thoroughly. Since the beginning of 2018, Vietnam has banned the use of antibiotics for growth purposes in livestock and aquaculture and only allowed them to be used in breeding stock. In particular, according to the roadmap to 2020, Vietnam will completely stop the use of antibiotics in livestock and aquaculture.
Let’s take action together
According to Juan Lubroth, FAO Veterinary Director, one of the most important solutions to limit the spread of drug-resistant bacteria is to create a clean animal husbandry.
So what is the optimal solution for antibiotic-free farming in our country? It is to solve the root cause, the root cause of the current overuse of antibiotics. According to Acting Director of the Department of Livestock Production Nguyen Xuan Duong: “In the field of animal husbandry, the race between countries in the world does not stop at how much meat, eggs and milk we can produce. More importantly, the product must have good quality, ensure food safety and hygiene with low production costs to create a competitive advantage, in order to dominate the market. At the same time, in order to develop sustainably, it is absolutely necessary to minimize the level of environmental pollution arising from animal husbandry activities…”
To successfully reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics in livestock production requires a holistic approach, starting with high quality seed. All management techniques and inputs need to be carefully considered, making mistakes in one area can detract from efforts in another and while there is no such thing as an additive. As an alternative to antibiotics, promising adjuvants are being developed.
At present, economic integration is creating many opportunities for breeders to have closer and closer access to new technologies, new products, advanced production and management methods. At the same time, creating great pressure for the State, businesses and farmers to accelerate restructuring, change ways of doing, change technology to be able to participate in integration and sustainable development. That is, all measures must be implemented in a synchronous manner, with close participation from the central to local levels, of each organization and individual to undertake tasks for common development. If the government of each country does not strictly manage and pay closer attention to livestock farmers, the problem of antibiotic use will never be well controlled. On the contrary, if farmers do not actively participate in the fight against antibiotic-free farming, then all efforts for the fight against antibiotics will also “fail”. More than ever, the power of solidarity, joining hands to contribute to the fight against antibiotic abuse should be put on top.
By: The Breeder Newspaper
