Factors Influencing Biosecurity Adoption and Its Limited Economic Impact on Smallholder Swine Farms

Abstract

Biosecurity is globally recognized as a fundamental measure to prevent infectious disease transmission at the farm level. This study surveyed 360 smallholder swine farmers across Trà Vinh, Long An, and Bên Tre provinces to examine their sociodemographic characteristics, biosecurity management (BM) practices, attitudes toward BM, and production performance. It further assessed how socioeconomic and psychological factors influence BM status and how BM affects economic sustainability. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and logistic regression analyses were explored all the relationships. The results indicated that farmers were more inclined to implement and adjust biosecurity measures than to plan or monitor biosecurity practices. Adjusting the biosecurity plan accounted for the highest proportion (65.32%), whereas planning was the lowest (51.08%). In terms of attitudes, 69.2% of respondents expressed interest in adopting BM, and only 47.2% believed that biosecurity practices accepted by community. The factors, including age, gender, occupation, farming experience, household size, and farm scale, were found to significantly influence the adoption of biosecurity management practices. Furthermore, no significant relationship was observed between biosecurity management (BM) practices and production efficiency (B= -0.028, p =0.185). Overall, the results suggest that although biosecurity management (BM) is essential for maintaining herd health and enhancing long-term resilience, its economic benefits are not automatically realized among smallholder swine farmers. This finding implies that policymakers should provide greater support to smallholders through financial incentives, technical training, and cooperative disease surveillance programs aimed at reducing the costs and increasing the perceived value of BM adoption.