VIETNAM, ISRAEL co-operate on high-tech dairy farm project

HCM CITY — Representatives from HCM City and Israel on Monday inked a memorandum of understanding on a dairy cow project in the city.

Ambassador Haim Divon, Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Centre for International Co-operation and Nguyen Phuoc Thao, director of HCM City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development signed the MoU.

Under the plan, a 10ha dairy demonstration and experimental farm will be established near the Centre for Animal Genetics and Seeds Evaluation and Management in the outlying Binh Chanh District.

The project aims include supporting the development of the dairy sector and running dairy farm activities and practices suitable for Viet Nam.

It will also serve as a Centre of Excellence that will combine demonstration, technologies and human capacity-building activities to support intensive dairy farming in the country.

Israel’s contribution to the project will be in-kind, mostly to support the implementation and management of the project.

Viet Nam will contribute to building infrastructure, and offer support and finance to ensure the day-to-day operation of the farm.

The project will be based on some 120 milking cows and 80 heifers.

Pregnant heifers will be used, gradually calving over the first year of the project. This approach will enable ongoing calving and milk production all year-round.

The project, to be submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for approval, targets an annual milk yield ranging between 7,000-8,000kg per cow and 960,000kg in total.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, city People’s Committee vice chairman Nguyen Trung Tin said the bilateral co-operation between Viet Nam and Israel had seen new developments, especially in agriculture.

Tin said that Israel was known as a world leader in the application of bio-technology, modern dairy cow raising and automatic greenhouse systems for the growing of vegetables, flowers and fruit.

"As for dairy cow raising, Israel has been credited as one of the countries that has the highest yield dairy cow herd in the world, thanks to its strong R&D and hi-tech application in the selection and management of breeding cows as well as intensive care of the cattle herd."

HCM City is restructuring its agricultural sector and dairy cow development is one of the sector’s key programmes.