VIV Asia Reflected Growth of Livestock Farming in Asia
THAILAND - Impressions from VIV Asia, held in Bangkok from 11 to 13 March 2015 by Stuart Lumb for 5m Publishing.
9 April 2015
7 minute read
By: This biennial event is held in Bangkok in March at the BITEC centre. A few years ago, it was rumoured that the event would have to relocate due to size constraints to a larger but less accessible venue but a new extension is rising rapidly and so the Centre will be able to handle the ever-increasing number of exhibitors and visitors for some years to come.
In his opening address, Dr Apichart Pongsrihadulchai, Thailand Vice Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives highlighted the importance of the livestock sector not just for the Thai market but for the growing export market, with Russia, Netherlands, Japan, the US and China all being targeted. Dr Pongsrihadulchai also emphasised the great importance of food product safety in livestock production.
Dairying is of increasing importance in Asia and biogas is a technology that is also of growing significance in this region. At this year’s event, each had a dedicated pavilion area grouping the related exhibits together. Furthermore, attendees could also attend technical conferences relating specifically to these two topic areas.
Aquaculture is big business in Asia and many companies could be found in the Aquatic pavilion.
The number of national pavillions is increasing at VIV Asia. These act as an umbrella, allowing small companies, which otherwise might not have exhibited due to the cost of a stand-alone booth, to have a presence at the show.
The opening day of trade show is often not that busy but that certainly was not the case at VIV Asia, with the organisers expecting around 30,000 visitors over the course of the three-day event, keen to see what the 800 exhibitors from 120 countries had to offer.
VIV Asia is a very vibrant and well-run event. It is set to return to the BITEC Centre and for your diary, the next one will be held from 8 to 10 March 2017.
VIV Asia Focus on the Pig Sector
Breeding stock are obviously a key part of any pig farm and several well-known companies were at VIV Asia.
DanBred International was present, headed up by Henrik Boholm, area manager for Asia.
He said: “We are launching a new turn-key package entitled 'Danish Farm Concept', which will operate on a worldwide basis and enable a farming business to take advantage of an all-in-one turn-key package of genetics (DanBred International), buildings (Danish Farm Design), equipment (Vissing Agro and Skov), nutrition (Hamlet Protein) and very importantly staff training (Dalum Agricultural Business Academy).
“This has already started in China but will soon be available worldwide. Key managers will be trained at Dalum, in Denmark, who will in turn train unit staff on the farm, with help from Danish experts.
“We have been in Thailand for many years, with China and Viet Nam being key growing markets as well. Regarding China,we already have a 1,600-sow nucleus unit, along with a multiplier farm three hours drive north of Shanghai, supplying the Chinese market.”
Canada has exported pigs for many years. Genesus has sold breeding pigs to Canada and the US for many years but is now focussing on Asia, with Genesus recently appointing pig industry veteran Paul Anderson as international sales manager.
He said: “Genesus was the leading exporter of breeding stock to China last year plus we are focusing on many other Asian countries as well.”
On the feed front, Idena Nutrition is based in Sautron, France and used VIV Asia to introduce Folico F to the Asian pig industry.
Virginie Hervy, regional manager for Idena, explained: “Folico F is a blend of plant extracts and mineral complexes, fed at the rate of 8kg during gestation. Folico F improves embryo implantation and hence litter size in a number of commercially available genotypes.”
French-based company, Olmix, is well known throughout Asia and used the show to announce the establishment of Olmix (Thailand). In addition, the company launched MFeed+. This green product can be fed to different species but the focus at VIV was in relation to growing and finishing pigs.
The company's technical expert, Marie Gallissot, explained: “MFeed+ is based on a combination of clay and algae extracts which optimise the activity of enzymes present in the small intestine, resulting in better digestion and improved feed efficiency leading to reduced feed costs and better margins”.
The trend to hyper-prolific sows whereby sows have more piglets than teats has lead to a proliferation of products which supplement the sow’s own milk.
Another French company, Earlypig, also based in Brittany was showcasing its range of gel feeds for baby pigs. An ingeniously designed tray, fixed to the farrowing pen slats, contains the Earlystart gel which keeps up to 10 days thanks to its low pH of 3.9. Trial data show substantial reductions in pre-weaning mortality and growth rate when Earlystart was fed to piglets over the first 10 days of life.
Anpario is the umbrella company for a number of brands including Optivite, Kiotechagil plus Meriden and the company used the show to launch the new format.
International Managing Director, Andrew Jackson, said: “It was great to see the whole team in action at the show. We had a very busy stand and generated a significant list of actions to follow up on over the coming months.”
Naturally, many familiar equipment companies were present at the show. Nedap highlighted its new lactating sow feeder, which incorporates ID technology to allow highly accurate feed dispensing.
The company has just sold 40 electronic sow feeding (ESF) stations to the second largest Thai integrator. Given the abundance of labour on Thai units, how can the cost of such equipment be justified?
Nedap explained: “Labour may be there in quantity,but the quality is lacking and with ESFs, there is less feed wastage and sow condition is much better.”
Big Dutchman had a big stand and as ever, highly visible.
Viggo Poulsen is area manager and he highlighted the recent take over of Canadian company Proline, which as well as pigs is involved with poultry and grain.
He said: “This addition will benefit our turn-key projects significantly.
Big Dutchman has also been successful in selling ESFs into Thailand, with a very big integrator recently purchasing 90 stations.
Famsun is the farm equipment arm of the Chinese Muyang group, and it was exhibiting for the first time at the show. Technical director, Roger Parfitt, said that the company is keen to expand sales in Thailand.
A large number of Chinese equipment companies were also exhibiting at VIV Asia, many with large fans on display as tunnel ventilation is now common on Asian pig units.
Gestation sow stall displays were plentiful as this is still the preferred housing system for pregnant sows and gilts in Asia.
