The relationship of good competitive farming practices and pig production efficiency in Mekong delta, Vietnam

Qui, Nguyen Hoang; Guntoro, Budi; Putra, Ahmad Romadhoni Surya; Thu, Nguyen Thi Anh; Liangco, Noime C.; Vui, Nguyen Van; Dang, Chau Cong; Linh, Nguyen Thuy

doi:10.4025/actascianimsci.v48i1.73823

This study assesses farmers' perception towards good competitiveness practices (GCP) and explores the factors affecting pig production efficiency in Vietnam. Using binary regression analysis, the study examined variables that significantly affected the production efficiency of 260 pig farmers in Tra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces. The results showed that most farmers were male with the majority working in pig farming as their primary occupation (83.5%). The average age of farmers was 50 years, with the majority having less than ten years of experience. Most farms used artificial insemination (91.9%) and received training (93.5%), although only 39.6% used automated equipment. In GCP, the perception of pork production and sales and financial management of pig production were highly rated by farmers. However, the ability to expand business and production scale were rated lower. Farmers focusing only on pig farming had a negative impact on production efficiency. In contrast, experience and training positively affected production efficiency, emphasizing the value of practical experience and knowledge through informal education. Additionally, perception of herd and farm size in GCP were essential for improving pig production efficiency. These findings provide important insights for improving the competitiveness and productivity of pig farming in the Mekong Delta.

Keywords:
good competitive practice; pig; sustainable agriculture; production efficiency.

[TFN1] Noted: Nagelkerke R² = 0.269; sig: 0.000.

Age	Age of the participant in years from birth to the time of survey (continuous variable)
Gender	Biologically distinguishing characteristics of participants based on male or female sex. In this case, gender may influence roles and responsibilities in agricultural activities, especially in pig farming (dummy variable, 1 is male, 0 is female)
Labor	Labor is a continuous variable and reflects the farmer's involvement in livestock production.
Education	The level of formal education the participant has completed (categorical variables from 1 to 4 according to levels from primary to university), knowledge of livestock techniques, and application of new production methods.
Occupation	The participant's primary occupation, including agricultural or non-agricultural labor, can be pig farming or off-farm work (dummy variable, 1 is pig farmers, 0 is off-farm job).
Experience	The number of years the participant has worked in the pig farming sector (continuous variables)
Pig Herd Size	The number of pigs the participant owned or managed during the survey. This categorical variable is usually divided by size, with 1 being less than 10 pigs, 2 being 10-20 pigs, 3 being 21-30 pigs, and 4 being over 30 pigs.
Education	Participant's participation in training on livestock farming techniques. This variable helps determine whether the farmer has specialized knowledge and skills to improve livestock productivity.
Raising Time	The time the participant spent raising pigs in months or years. This is a continuous variable.
Automated Equipment	The status of using automatic equipment in the pig farming process, such as automatic feeding or cleaning systems, uses a dummy variable (1 means using automatic equipment, 0 means not using).
Good competitiveness	Good competitiveness included four variables, with the degree of perception from 1 to 5, of the farmer's rate (AVG1, AVG2, AVG3, and AVG4).

Criteria	Categorical	Results
Criteria	Categorical	N	Percentage
Age		50.20±7.260
Gender	Female	37	14.2
Gender	Male	223	85.8
Labor		1.50±0.606
Education	Primary school	14	5.4
	Secondary school	52	20.0
	High school	181	69.6
	Bachelor	13	5.0
Occupation	Off-farm jobs	43	16.5
Occupation	Pig farming	217	83.5
Experience		10.78±6.865
Distance	<4 km	3.468±1.915
Pig unit	<10 unit	62	23.8
	10-20 unit	99	38.1
	21-30 unit	23	8.8
	>30 unit	76	29.2
Pig sources	In farm	102	39.2
	Outside farm	158	60.8
Breeding	Artificial insemination	239	91.9
	Others	21	8.1
Training	Non-training	17	6.5
	Training	243	93.5
Raising time		5.050±0.616
Automatic equipment	No	157	60.4
	Yes	103	39.6

Statements	Degree of perception
Statements	1	2	3	4	5
The market price will affect the hog price	-	-	6.2	71.9	21.9
Swine production will be more competitive if the market availability increases	-	4.6	7.3	44.2	43.8
AVG1	4.215±0.496
Reduce production costs by increasing integrated farming	-	0.8	20.0	73.8	5.4
Increase productivity by applying technologies such as automatic feeders, drinkers, artificial insemination	-	-	16.2	81.2	2.7
Work in a group of farmers to increase competitiveness/control the price of hog	-	-	21.5	74.2	4.2
AVG2	3.843±0.362
Directly sell hog/pork to the market to increase the price and profit	-	0.4	3.8	88.5	7.3
Access to the information on hog/pork prices daily through social media, information channels, institution prediction	-	-	10.0	54.2	35.8
AVG3	4.142±0.333
More swine on the farm increases competitiveness	-	-	25.0	62.3	12.7
Farmers can expand farm size and swine herd to increase competitiveness	-	32.7	31.9	33.1	2.3
AVG4	3.463±0.539

Criteria	Binary regression analysis
Criteria	B	S.E.	Wald	df	Sig.	Exp(B)
Age	-0.028	0.027	1.048	1	0.306	0.972
Gender
Male	0.128	0.510	0.063	1	0.802	1.136
Education			2.628	3	0.453
Secondary school	0.441	0.897	0.241	1	0.623	1.554
High school	1.104	.942	1.374	1	0.241	3.016
Bachelor	0.606	1.197	0.256	1	0.613	1.832
Main occupation
Pig raising	-1.763	0.836	4.449	1	0.035	0.172
Experience	0.080	0.037	4.564	1	0.033	1.083
Swine unit	0.023	0.204	0.013	1	0.910	1.023
Training for swine production	2.046	0.806	6.439	1	0.011	7.736
Raising time	-0.580	0.351	2.723	1	0.099	0.560
Automatic equipment application	-0.310	0.383	0.656	1	0.418	0.733
Good competitive practices
AGV1	0.090	0.384	0.055	1	0.815	1.094
AGV2	0.840	0.515	2.664	1	0.103	2.317
AGV3	0.916	0.545	2.819	1	0.093	2.498
AGV4	-0.898	0.378	5.646	1	0.017	0.408
Constant	-0.420	4.152	0.010	1	0.919	0.657