HCM CITY – The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Tiền Giang is developing intensive tra fish farming in alluvial areas along rivers to produce high quality fish for export.

The province is using more than 120ha of ground area along rivers to breed fish, mostly tra fish, according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Năm Đời, who has 20ha of alluvial ground area for farming tra fish in Cai Lậy District’s Tân Phong Commune, said he harvested about 5,000 tonnes of tra fish a year.

He earned a profit of billions of đồng last year as the price of raw tra fish had increased significantly since the previous year, he said. The rise in tra fish prices will encourage more farmers to develop tra fish breeding in alluvial ground areas along the Tiền River.

Tân Phong Commune, which is an islet in the Tiền River, is one of the major areas for breeding tra fish in alluvial ground areas in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province.

The commune has more than 60ha of alluvial ground areas used to farm tra fish, accounting for 50 per cent of the province total’s tra fish breeding area, according to Kiều Mạnh Quân, secretary of the Tân Phong Commune Party Committee.

Cao Văn Hóa, deputy director of the department, said to develop tra fish breeding in alluvial ground areas, the province has paid attention to zoning farming areas and transfering farming techniques for farmers.

The province will also create favourable conditions for tra fish breeders to participate in the delta’s three-tier co-operation plan for production of high-quality tra fish breeds in the delta.

The co-operation plan, which was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in March, aims to establish three-tier tra fish breed production chains that produce about 50 per cent of the Delta’s demand of 2.2 – 2.5 billion fries a year by 2020.       

The department has encouraged farmers to breed tra fish under Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards.

The province has 51.4ha of tra fish bred under GAP standards, including 6.4ha under global GAP standards and 45ha under Vietnamese GAP standards. It also has 15.8ha bred under Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards.

In Tiền Giang, main tra fish breeding areas are in islets and alluvial ground areas along the Tiền River in Cai Lậy and Cái Bè districts.

The province plans to have about 180ha of tra fish with an annual output of 67,000 tonnes by 2020.

Located downstream of the Tiền River, a tributary of the Mekong River, Tiền Giang has a dense network of rivers and canals which have advantages for aquaculture development. — VNS