At the conference on coordination to support the recovery of livestock and aquaculture production after storm No. 3 on the morning of September 21, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that livestock and aquaculture are the two sectors with the highest growth rates in the agricultural sector. However, storm No. 3 and floods have caused heavy damage to these two sectors.

According to preliminary statistics, by 5:00 p.m. on September 18, the damage caused by storm No. 3 and its aftermath killed 22,808 livestock and more than 3 million poultry, of which the five provinces with the most damage were: Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Yen Bai, Hanoi and Thai Nguyen.

Reports from the northern provinces from Quang Ninh to Nghe An show that the total aquaculture area damaged is about 23,595 hectares; the number of cages damaged and swept away is about 4,592 cages. The initial estimated damage to aquaculture is up to more than 2,500 billion VND.

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Aquaculture cage area was destroyed by storm, fish died, rafts were swept away. Photo: Pham Cong

The leaders of the Department of Animal Husbandry and the Department of Fisheries proposed to postpone and extend debt payments and provide certain support for businesses, cooperatives, and households to restore production. In particular, it is necessary to continue to resolve insurance and reinsurance issues for more sustainable development.

In addition, the demand for aquatic breeds, feed, and aquaculture environmental treatment chemicals to serve production recovery after storms is expected to increase.

“The biggest concern after storms and floods is disease because there are many pathogens that exist in the environment and livestock, and there is a risk of spreading and infecting,” said Nguyen Van Long, Director of the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development).

Therefore, he proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issue a directive document and request all forces and levels to support people with general cleaning and disinfection measures. At the same time, immediately review and vaccinate livestock and poultry to prevent disease outbreaks.

He also requested that vaccine and veterinary medicine manufacturing enterprises are not allowed to increase prices, and even have a price reduction policy to accompany people in difficult times like the present.

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Seaweed farming is a solution for farmers to quickly restore production. Photo: Pham Cong

At the conference, Mr. Do Linh Phuong - CEO and founder of DBLP Company, said that aquaculture farmers can restore production by switching to seaweed cultivation immediately.

Because, looking at the current reality, many farming households have suffered heavy losses, with almost no capital left to reproduce. Meanwhile, growing seaweed is a direction that can be considered because it saves costs, and does not require feeding like raising other aquatic species.

The company is ready to support 1 million seaweed seedlings to help people in damaged aquaculture areas reproduce as quickly as possible, Mr. Phuong affirmed.

Seaweed is considered a superfood. In addition, it can be used as raw material for production in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Businesses have even produced bioplastic cups from seaweed.

Domestic and international scientists have conducted research to prove that seaweed can absorb CO2 about 2-5 times more than forest trees on the same area. Some species of seaweed with large canopies, such as kelp, can absorb CO2 about 20 times more than forest trees. 1km2 of seaweed farming can store 1,500 tons of CO2. Therefore, expanding the seaweed farming area will create giant carbon sinks for the aquaculture industry.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the entire political system, businesses, cooperatives, and people, the agricultural sector in general and livestock and fisheries in particular will soon restore production activities.

Up to this point, the aquaculture sector has received nearly 85 billion VND, livestock nearly 79 billion VND, and veterinary nearly 2.4 billion VND from businesses and organizations supporting and assisting people with money, food, breeds, environmental treatment chemicals, etc. to restore and overcome the consequences of storm No. 3 and floods.

The Deputy Minister affirmed that these resources will reach those in need, to the right people, for the right job, and ensure publicity and transparency.

Banks stop collecting interest from borrowers affected by storms and floods. Borrowers in provinces and cities affected by storm No. 3 Yagi and its circulation will have their loan interest exempted or reduced by the bank as well as conditions created for new loans.