Clean environment in places where there is no more livestock in residential areas

People obey

The livestock barn of Mr. Doan Van Toan's family in Vu La residential area, Nam Dong ward (Hai Duong city) has been empty for several months now.

Mr. Toan shared that in the past, to increase income and improve life, his family raised pigs. Untreated wastewater flowed into public sewers, and the waste was collected and composted to make fertilizer for rice and crops.

Mr. Toan's family's livestock farming causes environmental pollution, and people around have opinions. In addition to the impact of African swine fever, in recent years he has switched to raising chickens, a few dozen chickens per batch. He built a barn in the garden, about 20 meters from the main house. "Although it is not as polluted as raising pigs, there are occasional outbreaks and there are still many flies and mosquitoes. Therefore, when I was told not to raise livestock in residential areas, I immediately complied. The barn is now abandoned and has become a warehouse," said Mr. Toan.

Not far from Toan’s house is Doan The Linh’s family. Linh’s family has also raised chickens for ten years, each batch has about 300-400 chickens. Although the coop and garden are spacious and the waste is cleaned regularly, there is still a foul smell. Since the new regulations came into effect, Linh has stopped raising chickens.

Some livestock farming households in Cong Hoa ward (Chi Linh) have also stopped raising livestock in residential areas since Resolution 20/2024/NQ-HDND dated November 14, 2024 stipulates that areas within the inner city of cities, towns, and residential areas are not allowed to raise livestock and support policies when relocating livestock facilities out of areas where livestock farming is not allowed in the province issued by the Provincial People's Council.

The house is near Cong Hoa Primary School, but in the past, Mr. Hoang Van Dong's family in Truc Thon residential area still raised nearly a hundred pigs. Due to the lack of effective waste and wastewater treatment measures, it also caused pollution to the surrounding environment. Since Mr. Dong's family stopped raising pigs, the surrounding area no longer has a foul smell. Mr. Dong also renovated the livestock area to grow vegetables and trees.

Many benefits

According to data from the district level and reviews by specialized agencies, by the end of 2024, the whole province had 510 out of a total of 236,750 livestock households in the province (accounting for 0.21%) in the proposed areas not to raise livestock. There were 469 households (accounting for 91.96%) raising livestock on a small scale, household scale; 40 households (accounting for 7.84%) raising livestock on a small scale and 1 household (accounting for 0.2%) raising livestock on a medium scale. The total number of livestock and poultry of these 510 households was about 48,000, accounting for 0.27% of the total livestock and poultry herd in the province.

According to the assessment of the representative of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, the issuance of Resolution 20 brings many benefits to livestock breeders and surrounding people as well as the living environment.

Areas where livestock farming is not allowed are all urban areas and towns, so there is not much agricultural land, so they can only raise a few dozen pigs and a few hundred chickens. Farmers mainly take advantage of their free time, simple barns, and many households have not paid attention to disease prevention. "When implementing this resolution, the number of farmers as well as income from livestock farming will not be affected much. The province still has support policies if they want to raise livestock but have to move to a permitted area," said a representative of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine.

Immediately after the policy of the superiors, the People's Committees of wards and towns all made specific plans, held meetings with organizations, and propagated to members to strictly comply with the regulations. The radio stations of wards and towns increased the broadcasting of related information, and the heads of residential areas and organizations also went to each household to propagate so that all livestock breeders were fully aware of the regulations. "Currently, Cong Hoa ward has no livestock households in residential areas. The locality always encourages people to develop production and increase income but must ensure the conditions according to regulations," said Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Vice Chairman of Cong Hoa ward People's Committee.

Small-scale livestock farms are almost gone, so the environment has improved significantly, especially wastewater. Ms. Pham Thi Hang, Tan Lap residential area (Nam Dong ward) said: "The water in the sewers no longer smells like before, the air is also fresh, no longer polluted. I think this is a right policy."

Resolution 20 is suitable for practice, supported by the people, and contributes to making the living environment cleaner.