The Long Tuyen Vegetable and Fruit Cooperative in Can Tho city’s Binh Thuy district grows honeydew melon in net houses (Photo: VNA) Can Tho (VNA) – The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho’s agro-forestry-fisheryoutput for this year is 13.5 trillion VND (578.5 million USD), 4.1 percenthigher than the target, according to the municipal Department of Agricultureand Rural Development.
Agriculture accountedfor around 8 trillion VND (342 million USD) of the value. Rice topped othercrops in terms of value as output exceeded the target by 8.5 percent.
The city has 106large-scale rice fields with a total area of 25,417ha and 18,000 farmersworking together.
Almost 65 percent of therice grown in the winter-spring and summer-autumn crops comprised ofhigh-quality varieties.
The use of agriculturalmachinery like harvesters, establishing large-scale fields, plantinghigh-quality rice varieties, and high rice prices this year have meant farmersenjoyed a profit margin of 40 percent.
The city’s 18,400ha oforchards produced 111,500 tonnes of fruits, 13.2 percent more than the city’starget, according to the department.
The city has builtbrands for its Xoan orange and Ido longan in O Mon district and Ha Chau Burmesegrape in Phong Dien district.
The department hasestablished concentrated growing areas for milk apple, mango and Ido longanbased on Vietnamese good agricultural practice (VietGAP) standards.
It has also acted as alink between companies and cooperatives, ensuring the former to buy all thelatter’s products.
Besides growing fruit toVietGAP standards, the city has also developed eco-tourism around its orchards.
It has 15 orchards thatoffer eco-tourism, mostly in Phong Dien district. The model offers orchardowners 1.5-2 times the profit they get from their fruits.
The city has 5,000buffaloes, oxen and cows, 130,000 pigs and 2 million poultry. It has instructedfarmers to ensure their farms meet food safety standards and they protect theenvironment and produce high-quality products.
The city has developedaquaculture areas that apply VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards to producehigh-quality produce for both domestic consumption and exports.
Farmers breed fish andother creatures to VietGAP standards in 215ha of aquaculture ponds.
However, climate change,unseasonable rains and prolonged hot weather have affected the yield andproduction efficiency, according to Nguyen Ngoc He, director of the department.
Individual and small ofscale production, low labour skills in rural areas, unstable outlets andshortage of funding are major problems facing the agricultural sector, he said.
The city would continueto restructure agriculture next year, focusing on developing key products on alarge scale and with high quality, he said.
It would improve theoperations of existing co-operatives, set up new co-operatives and wouldcontinue to act as a link between companies and co-operatives, he said.
The city would continueto teach farmers farming techniques and solicit investment in agriculture,especially processing and post-harvest preservation.-VNA
VNA
