Development of breeding goals and economic evaluation of breeding program designs for indigenous pig breeds located in production systems in Northwest Vietnam

Abstract

Pig production systems using indigenous breeds have a substantial impact on diversity in Vietnamese pig populations and also contribute to the income of small-scale farms in the northwest of Vietnam. The objective of the present study was an in-depth evaluation of current breeding practices, breeding goals, and favourable traits for different indigenous pig production systems. The research was performed using a wide range of methods. Single person interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire were undertaken across 171 households in three provinces in northwest Vietnam (Son La, Hoa Binh, and Yen Bai) to attain information regarding production and management practices, disease prevalence, veterinary health-care services as well as willingness to pay (WTP) of producers for a vaccination programme. The different aspects of the objective are divided into four scientific studies (chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5), which address the previously mentioned research areas: 1) Characterization of Ban pig production systems, based on management practices, productivity, and reproductive performances; 2) Derivation of economic efficiency of farmers in Ban pig production systems; 3) Investigating the farmers willingness to pay for a vaccination programme and the factors affecting WTP; 4) Derivation of the economic importance of functional, production, and survival traits for the indigenous breed.