The ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set new development targets for the agriculture sector in the Mekong Delta.
Accordingly, the region will dedicate around 3.8 million hectares to rice cultivation by 2010, producing 5.2 tons of rice per ha, on average. In total, farmers will produce around 19 million tons of rice per year to meet increasing domestic and foreign demand.
The ministry predicts up to 5 million tons of rice will be exported, raising average household income to between US$700 and US$750 a year.
Presently, farmers gain VND20 million (US$1,250) for every ha of land or fisheries they own annually. To reach the ministry’s goal for the region, production yields will have to increase by VND13 million in just 3 years.
Ministry officials are hoping their objectives will help reduce the number of poor households in the region from 9 per cent to as low as 4 per cent.
Additionally, all rural homes must have electricity and 400,000 new jobs should be created annually under the plan.
To meet these targets, the ministry is asking the region’s People’s Committees to review their production targets, while suggesting farmers only plant two crops of rice and a third crop of vegetables, and invest in high quality rice varieties resistant to common diseases and insects.
The Delta should produce more corn, as well as increase the area under crop to 200,000ha, the MARD said. By planting more, farmers will be able to grow up to 800,000 tons of the crop per year and harvest 6 times what they do now.
The MARD also stressed fruit orchards as another way to help farmers get more bang for their buck.
Officials said farmers in the region should expand their total orchard area to 400,000ha, mostly for mango, longan and orange trees.
Sugarcane production will remain the same for farmers, but regulations will make it mandatory for different strains to be used to inflate output to 7 million tons of product per annum.
The ministry’s plans for expansion include revitalizing livestock breeding programs as well.
The plan said that local breeders will increase to more than 4 million pigs, 700,000 cattle and 50 million domestic fowl in modern, large scale animal farms in 3 years.
To make this happen, the ministry has vowed to continue its crop and livestock program, supplying saplings and young livestock to farmers.
One issue standing in the way of growth in the sector is the preservation and processing technology and equipment used, making it difficult for Vietnamese farmers to complete with big producers like Thailand.
The Government is dedicating resources to build 30 rice processing centers capable of processing 3.5 million tons of rice a year in provinces along the delta, said officials.
Improving fruit and vegetable processing mills is also on the agenda. The ministry would like to see the mill in Kien Giang province process 30,000 tons of fruit and vegetable a year, while 2 mills in Tien Giang and An Giang will increase capacity by 15,000 tons.
Officials said a new fruit and vegetable mill that can process 20,000 tons annually will be built in Can Tho, with 2 more in the works in Dong Thap and Vinh Long.
Mekong Delta, made up 12 provinces and accounts for 12 per cent of Vietnam’s total land mass, is now boasting 2.97 million ha of farm land and its rice production totals more than 50 per cent of Vietnam’s output and 90 per cent of the country’s rice exports.
Farmers here have the most fish farming area in Vietnam and produce 55 per cent of the country’s fresh water shrimp.
The area has 2,500km of natural rivers and canals, 3,000km of artificial canals and 1 million ha of seasonally submerged land. (VNS)
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