A farmer in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam, earns a net profit of VND 500 million a year\u2014about 3 million yen\u2014from raising not pigs or chickens but porcupines (nhim in Vietnamese). The feed is mainly vegetable scraps, fruit, and okara from the market, and the feed cost per animal is about VND 2,000 a day\u2014only about 12 yen. When it comes to Vietnamese meat, commoditized pork and chicken and seafood are the leads, but behind them, high-unit-price specialty livestock is quietly building up. For Japanese meat and farm-product buyers, this case is a yardstick for measuring \"how far Vietnam's protein sources will diversify.\" The design philosophy of livestock aiming for high returns even at small scale The case of an electrician who staked his comeback on frog farming in Nghe An Province<\/a> has something in common with this as well.<\/p>\n The protagonist is Phan Thanh Tung of Vinh An town, Vinh Cuu district, Dong Nai Province (Tri An commune, Dong Nai city, after administrative reorganization). On just 250 square meters of land, finely partitioned, he raises about 600 breeding parent porcupines and animals for shipment.<\/p>\n According to Vietnamese media reports, a breeding pair sells for VND 3.5\u20134 million (about 21,000\u201324,000 yen), and meat animals hold steady at VND 320,000\u2013380,000 per kg, averaging roughly VND 350,000 (about 2,100 yen). This gives monthly revenue of about VND 50 million (about 300,000 yen), and net annual profit after expenses reaches over VND 500 million. Tung says, \"Compared with the people raising pigs around here, porcupines are far easier.\"<\/p>\n Behind the viability of porcupine farming are two things: the cost structure and the demand structure.<\/p>\n On the cost side, it matters greatly that this animal is disease-resistant and highly adaptable. Because it grows on damaged vegetables and fruit, sweet potatoes, and okara recovered from the market\u2014without relying on vaccines or expensive compound feed\u2014it is almost unaffected by the risk of surging pig-feed prices. Unlike pigs, whose prices are easily controlled by middlemen, it can be started with a small number of animals and run in spare space at home, which also lowers the barrier to entry.<\/p>\n On the demand side, porcupine meat has taken hold in urban upscale dining. Served grilled, steamed, or stir-fried at restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai, it fetches high prices as \"a rare and nourishing ingredient.\" Under Vietnamese law, the common farmed porcupine is classified as an \"ordinary wild animal\" that is not a rare species, but breeding facilities are required to obtain permission from the forest-protection authorities and to keep a rearing ledger, among other things. This institutional framework has supported regionalization that is not black-market trade.<\/p>\n Placed alongside the market prices for pigs and chickens, the high unit price of this livestock becomes clear. Exchange is converted at about 0.006 yen per dong (about 60 yen per VND 10,000).<\/p>\nNet profit of VND 500 million a year on 250 square meters: what happened<\/h2>\n
Why porcupines became \"livestock that pays\"<\/h2>\n
The economics of specialty livestock in numbers<\/h2>\n