The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh plans to expand breeding clams on more than 15,000ha of alluvial grounds along coastal areas, with priority given to poor households, Pham Minh Truyen, director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.
The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh plans to expand breeding clams on more than 15,000ha of alluvial grounds along coastal areas, with priority given to poor households, Pham Minh Truyen, director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.
Truyen said the provincial People’s Committee would also set up more co-operatives and co-operative groups in localities.
The Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa will carry out a survey to evaluate 15,000ha of alluvial grounds in coastal areas for clam farming.
Tra Vinh has seven clam co-operatives and co-operative groups with 2,000 members. They breed clams on more than 3,500 hectares of alluvial grounds, with annual output of 4,000 tonnes.
Since the beginning of April, local clam breeders from clam co-operatives and co-operative groups have released more than 170 tonnes of clam seeds on about 180ha of water surface areas.
Of these, Thanh Dat and Ba Vinh clam co-operatives in Duyen Hai town have released 101 tonnes of clam seeds on 101ha of water surface areas.
Around 73 tonnes of clam seeds have been released on 80ha of water surface areas by Tien Thanh Clam Co-operative and Long Hoa Co-operative Group in Chau Thanh district.
Clam breeders earn an average profit of 50 million VND (2,135 USD) per hectare each year.
Pham Van Truong, director of Tien Thanh Clam Co-operative, said local clam breeders have several advantages as the price of clam seeds is not high and there is no shortage of seeds.
The co-operative buys clam seeds at 15,000-22,000 VND (0.64-0.94 USD) per kilogramme, a decrease of 3,000-5,000 VND (0.13-0.21 USD) per kilogramme compared to previous crops.
VNA