A seedling nursery in Bến Tre Province’s Chợ Lách District. — VNA/VNS Photo Công Trí

BẾN TRE — The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Bến Tre has stepped up managing the quality of seedlings to develop its production sustainably.

The country’s largest seedling producing province is focusing on producing high quality seedlings of its key fruits such as green skin and pink flesh grapefruit, rambutan, longan, durian, mangosteen, mango and lime.

It has selected elite trees and orchards to produce high quality seedlings which can adapt to climate change and saltwater intrusion.

It has invested in developing elite orchards for 12 key fruits: dragon fruit, mango, rambutan, durian, milk apple, grapefruit, longan, banana, pineapple, orange, sour sop and mandarin.

The province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is exploring the seedling demands of other provinces and cities in the southern and Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) regions, seeking contracts to sell seedlings and consult on growing techniques.

Nguyễn Minh Cảnh, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the province had tightened management of the production and trade of seedlings to ensure the quality of seedlings.

To promote its potential and strengths, the province planned to set up a national level Chợ Lách flower and ornamental plant seedling centre, he said.

The plan was an important task to develop the province’s seedling production sector to improve incomes for farmers and the lives of rural people, he said.

The province has 1,500ha devoted to producing seedlings and produces about 20 million seedlings of fruit, coconuts and other tree varieties a year.

It is developing concentrated areas for producing seedlings of flowers and ornamental plants and promoting linkages among farmers, co-operatives and companies to develop seedling production sustainably.

According to Huỳnh Quang Đức, deputy director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, seedling producers in the province have been quick to collect and create new seedling varieties.

The province has 126 elite trees and 670 elite orchards.

It aims to develop seedling production towards high-tech production to supply seedlings that have high quality and yield, adapt to climate change and meet market requirements.

It has tightened inspections of the quality of seedlings and the registration of producing seedlings, and has developed linkages among stakeholders that produce and sell seedlings.

It plans to implement advocacy activities to enhance the awareness of seedling producing firms of regulations for producing and trading seedlings.

It has more than 8,000 households who participate in producing and trading seedlings, mostly in Chợ Lách, Mỏ Cày Bắc, Châu Thành and Giồng Trôm districts.

Of these households, only 570 have registered their production and trading. — VNS