A field investigation of performance and economic efficiency of working buffaloes in the Mekong Delta

Raising buffaloes without shelter was habitual by farmers in the MD (Table 5). Natural grasses were the main feed resources for the buffaloes, but there was a lack of planted grasses. In the MD, grassland areas are very restricted, compared to other areas of Vietnam, so developing feeding systems for buffaloes in the MD should be based on the use of crop residues, especially rice straw. Lack of investment for buffalo development in the MD was a major constraint, due to a lack of financial support from the banks. In the present study buffalo diseases were not big problems. Pasteurellosis, Foot and Mouth disease, bloat and liver fluke were prevented effectively by vaccination or periodical use of drugs.

Hire of buffalo draught power

The farmers in Tra Vinh had no income at all from the hire of buffalo draught power. This is because the tractors manage all the different types of fieldwork in the dryer upland environment, and demand for the buffalo thus is lower. However, the farmers in lowland areas reported an average income of $800 per buffalo per year for hire to other farmers, mainly for transporting rice. The price for fieldwork depends on the current price of rice, and the hire is often paid in rice. The rice is pulled on sledges or barges by a single buffalo (91 per cent), up to 650 kg at one time. One buffalo may transport rice from around 50 ha per year, or around 300 tonnes of rice. The transport could involve taking the whole rice crop to the threshing machine and later the threshed rice for storage in the farmhouse, or delivering rice to the road or canal for further transportation. The farmers often store the rice in their houses waiting for the price to increase.

The competitor to buffaloes for transporting rice is not so much the tractors as human labour. Rice-field workers are hired and provide the labour for harvesting, transplanting, pulling weeds and carrying sacks of rice on their backs. However, when humans carry rice it is often because of a shortage of working buffaloes. Leveling the paddy field prior to planting can also be very profitable work with a reported daily income of between $10-20 for one animal. In Table 6 Economic efficiency of buffaloes in Dong Thap province was better than other province.

The tractor

The most common tractor was a two wheeler with handlebar, driven by a noisy, smoking and vibrating diesel engine. The farmers working with tractors in the study all complained about associated health problems. The machine drives a cultivator aggregate rather than pulling a plough or harrow. A new tractor costs around $1200 together with a barge for moving it on the waterways. The yearly net profit from hire was reported to be around $400. The investment mostly depended on having a supply of customers to work for. Depending on type of soil and degree of wetness condition, a new tractor could plough around two ha per day, compared to a pair of buffaloes that can plough around 0.3 ha per day. Ploughing is reported to cost the same, whether carried out by buffalo or by tractor. Careful planning is needed to achieve three rice crops per year when there is a need for faster tillage supplied by the tractor. This creates a high demand for tractor work and many farmers have therefore sold their buffaloes and bought a tractor, or alternatively just hired a tractor for doing the field work. However, because of the wet conditions in the MD, the tractor is reported to work efficiently only for about three years.

All farmers with knowledge of tractors reported that the efficiency then decreased together with the reliability. Breakdown is common, and is also expensive to repair. The costs and time spent on repairs, transport and maintenance then increased and the customers often abandoned the old tractor hirer for someone with a more reliable model. After 8 - 10 years the tractor might be totally worn out and the farmer often had no capital for investment in a new one, or money to buy buffaloes. This might result in the farmer not working his own fields and instead hiring all the draught power needed. Large numbers of tractors have recently been sold, and the competition between tractor owners for customers is hard. Reduction in the costs to hire tractors was reported. To move the tractor from field to field on the waterways was also more demanding than to move buffaloes On balance, it was calculated that economic efficiency was better for buffaloes compared to tractor by a factor of 2.1 (Table 7 ).

Conclusion

• It was found that after a period (2000 to 2005) of decrease of the population of buffaloes in the Mekong Delta, there were signs of a recovery in the past two years, which appeared to be related to their usefulness in transporting rice from the paddy fields to threshing machines and to the homesteads, and their comparative advantages for working in wet and muddy areas.

• Due to high maintenance costs of tractors, the economic efficiency appeared to be better for buffaloes.

Acknowedgment

Many thanks to Mr. Nguyen Van Liem and Miss Dan Thanh. Financial support of this work was provided by Mekarn. The authors would like to thank the Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agriculture, Cantho University, Vietnam and the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish Agricultural Sciences, Sweden for use of their facilities.

References

Bergstrom, J., 2003. A Study on The Changing Role the native buffalo in Farming System in the Mekong delta. MSc thesis. Department of Animal nutrition and management. Swedish University of Agicultural Sciences.

Giang san, 2004. Return the true name for buffaloes. Nong Nghiep newspaper (Vietnamese) No 185. Sep 15, 2004. pp.1-2.

Kim Ngoc, 2004. Vissan is opening more buffalo meat stores. Tuoi tre Newspers (Vietnamese) in June 17 2003. pp.11.

Long, D., 2002. Importing Buffalo, why? Economic. Tuoi tre Newspers (Vietnamese) No 133/2002 (July 16, 2002 2003). pp.11.

Ly, L.V., 2001. Buffalo development in Vietnam: Constrain and prospects. MEKARN proceedings of International Workshop on Swam Buffalo. Ed: TR Preston and R Sansoucy. Hanoi 17-18 Dec, 2001.

Mason, I.L., 1974. Species, Types and Breeds. In The husbandry and health of the domestic buffalo. W.Ross Cockrill (Ed). FAO, Rome, Italy. Pp 1-47.

Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam, 2006. Statistical publishing house, Vietnam.

Thu, N.V, 2000. Buffalo production and performance in Vietnam. Performance recording of Animals.

Go to top