SÓC TRĂNG — A conference was held in the Mekong Delta province of Sóc Trăng on Thursday to discuss how to realise the US$10 billion shrimp export target by 2025 as requested by the Prime Minister. 

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vũ Văn Tám directed relevant agencies and localities to keep a close track of weather patterns and epidemic diseases and increase output from now on, especially amid the uncertain climate conditions at present. 

Localities should adopt more technological advances in production, with a focus on controlling the quality of fries and spreading effective farming models, he suggested. 

The provinces of Cà Mau, Bạc Liêu and Sóc Trăng were asked to increase supervision in the use of antibiotics for shrimp, thereby increasing the staple’s value and expanding markets at home and abroad. 

This year, the country strives to breed 700,000ha of shrimp, with nearly 130 billion fries for an output of 660,000 tonnes. 

To that end, the Directorate of Fisheries outlined four specific measures -- environment monitoring and forecast and response to drought and saline intrusion, fries quality and production, feed management and bio-produce for shrimp farming, and breeding technical process. 

Although it has suffered less from drought and saline intrusion compared with the same period last year, the region is still hit by unseasonal rainfall and changing temperatures, which partly hurt shrimp breeding, it said.

Statistics revealed that the new farming coverage has, so far, surpassed 536,440ha, which is mostly prawn (more than 521,000ha) while the remaining 15,000ha is for white leg shrimp farming. Total production is estimated at some 40,000 tonnes this year, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year. 

Associate professor Trương Quốc Phú from Cần Thơ University proposed developing organic shrimp breeding models and opening centres for shrimp fries research to ease reliance on imported shrimp, making it easier for the formation of value chains and to attract more investment. 

Lương Minh Quyết, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, suggested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development offer advice on building a decree on the management of processing, exporting and developing shrimp farming in brackish water. 

To minimise risks for breeders, he also called attention to relevant agricultural insurance policies and breeders’ access to capital. — VNS