Deputy Chairman of Huong Son District People’s Committee Nguyen Kieu Hung said that this year , farmers continued to earn much from selling breeding deer and deer antler velvet.
At present, over 10,000 households in the district have bred deer. They harvested more than 15 tons. Each kilo of deer antler is valued at around VND12 million (US$445) bringing VND160 billion in total economic value, much higher than last year when farmers harvested 13 tons of deer antler velvet generating VND140 billion.
Breeders usually harvests velvet from the male deer after Tet holiday ( the Lunar New Year) till March.
This year, in addition to selling deer antler velvet, farmers also sold breeding baby deer at higher price than last year. Moreover, deer antler velvet is one of One Commune-One Product (OCOP) program; accordingly, its added value is improved and consumption is stable.
Last but not least, the products were granted trademark certification by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam; accordingly, consumers and traders have flocked to the district to buy the product.
The velvet is used in traditional medicine as a tonic to improve health.
Raising deer for velvet fetches higher incomes than other animals, and many farmers have steady incomes. Thousands of farmers in Huong Son District have escaped poverty and improved their lives thanks to deer farming.
