peer reviewedIn order to characterization of pig farms in the Red River Delta, a study was conducted on 90 pig farms in Hung Yen, Hai Duong and Bac Ninh provinces from June to December 2006. Results show that most of the pig farms had been built for five years with a small size (0.5 hectare per farm). The invested capital was about 300-400 millions VND per farm. Four main sow groups used in the farms included crossbred exotic sows (51.1%), crossbred sow between local and exotic breeds (14.4%), purebred Landrace and Yorkshire breeds (15.6 and 18.9%, respectively). The boars were various (Duroc 30%, Yorkshire 21%, Landrace 13%, PiÐtrain × Duroc 36% and others). The pigs farms were faced with several difficulties such as limited land, lack of invested capital, uncontrolled quality of breeding pigs, high costs of feed, poor hygiene condition and diseases
