A tra catfish farm that meets Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP) standards and has a contract with a processing company to sell its harvests in An Giang Province’s Phú Tân District. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

AN GIANG — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang targets 3.2-3.5 per cent growth for its agro-forestry-fishery sector this year.

To achieve this, it will focus on development of hi-tech agriculture, concentrated growing areas and linkages between stakeholders to increase value, according to its People’s Committee.

It will speed up restructuring of agriculture, including river-based aquaculture, expand cultivation of high-quality rice varieties and switch to high-value crops on unproductive rice fields.

It will develop concentrated growing areas for some key agricultural items, including 10,217ha of fruits, 6,000ha of vegetables 1,500ha of tra catfish, by 2025.

Situated in the centre of the delta and on the border with Cambodia, and a gateway to Cần Thơ City and HCM City, An Giang has great economic potential.

It has identified agriculture as the basis of its economy and is soliciting investment in key items such as rice, tra fish, fruits, and vegetables.

It will strengthen advocacy activities to apprise companies, co-operatives, co-operative groups, and households about its incentives and attract their investments in agriculture and rural development.

Farmlands account for more than 80 per cent of the province’s area, and it has abundant freshwater throughout the year for agriculture, especially rice.

High quality rice

An Giang aims to have 100,000ha under high-quality rice by 2025 and create linkages between farmers and rice companies to ensure steady demand and prices, according to its Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It plans to earmark 12,000ha for growing speciality varieties such as Jasmine, Nàng Nhen, Mùa, and glutinous rice in the districts of Phú Tân, Châu Phú, Tri Tôn, An Phú and Tịnh Biên by 2025.

It will stop growing rice on 35,000ha of unproductive fields and instead switch to high-value vegetables, fruits and aquatic species, or rotate between rice and other crops.

Trần Anh Thư, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said to restructure rice farming, the province would increase the use of advanced farming techniques and cultivation of the grain grown to Sustainable Rice Platform, Vietnamese and global good agricultural practices (VietGAP and GlobalGAP) and organic standards.

It would increase the area of rice and glutinous rice grown with farm contracts to 200,000 - 250,000ha and grant production codes to 70-80 per cent of areas growing the grains for export by 2025, he said.

Brand names would be built for rice varieties, he added.

The province plans to develop brand names also for other key agricultural items such as seafood and fruits in combination with the country’s “One-Commune-One Product” programme to develop the rural economy and increase incomes there.

It hopes to increase the average income of rural people to VNĐ64.5 million (US$2,700) by 2025, 1.5 times the 2020 figure based on an output of VNĐ242 million ($10,200) per hectare.

It grows four million tonnes of paddy a year, the second highest in the country after neighbouring Kiên Giang Province.

It exports 500,000 - 550,000 tonnes and earns US$250 million a year.

Some 70 per cent of the output is of high-quality and speciality varieties, and 89 per cent of the rice-growing areas use advanced farming techniques, according to the department. — VNS