Bac Giang (VNA) – The northern province of Bac Giang will develop 140ha of aquaculture with 130 high-tec♚h intensive aquaculture models in the 2021-2025 period, said the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It will also adopt automation technology in the management and care of aquatic products, aiming to harvest more than 14 tonnes of products meeting VietGAP standards per hectare. At the same time, 15-20 household groups and cooperatives will be set up to use automation technology in support of production, consumption and formation of a production linkage chain. Intensive aquaculture models using automation technology will be operated in the districts of Tan Yen, Viet Yen, Hiep Hoa, Yen Dung, Lang Giang, Luc Nam and Bac Giang city, with a water surface area of at least 0.8ha each. Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Dinh said in order to achieve the goal, the provincial People’s Committee will offer support in the form of materials, fingerlings and equipment. The province will also finance half the cost of sensors, oxygen generators, fish feeding machines and cameras, which will be connected with Internet via computers and phones. The locality will support 60 percent of the cost to buy fingerlings, and subsidy the purchase of chemicals and probiotics for farming households participating in the models as well as environment measurement equipment. The provincial authority will also hold 12 training courses on intensive aquaculture and automation for 600 people, five seminars to review and spread the models and five fact-finding trips to Hai Duong and Hai Phong while raising public awareness of intensive aquaculture. Last year, water surface area used for aquaculture in Bac Giang was 12,500ha, up 50ha from 2019. Of which, around 4,400ha was used for intensive and semi-intensive aquaculture with an output of 7-10 tonnes per ha. Thanks to modern technological application, the total output of commercial fish of Bac Giang reached nearly 48,000 tonnes last year, up 4.1 percent annually. Of which, nearly 45,000 tonnes came from farming and the remaining from fishing./.