(vasep.com.vn) In 2015 and 2016, pangasius farming area in Mekong Delta will be narrowed down but production and exports to increase.
Specifically, in 2015, the area will decrease by 500 hectare to reach 5,900 hectare and the year 2016 will witness another 500 hectare cut-off to maintain 5.400 hectare.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, provincial fisheries authorities will widely spread the newly adopted technique to improve the productivity of pangasius from the current rate of 160 MT/ hectare to 180 - 200 MT/ hectare so that production will surpass 1 million MT in 2015, reaching 1.2 million MT in 2016, with annual export turnover of at least US$ 2 billion.
Stocking density will be reduced at 20-25 pangasius/m2 from the current rate of 35-40 pangasius/m2 whilst the use of antibiotics sewage discharged into rivers will also be reduced.
Until 2016, production lines in existing plants will be renovated all over Mekong Delta to improve product quality, reduce production costs, with the aim of creating 600,000 - 700,000 MT of finished products/annum, 10% of which are high added value ones.
Over 320 hatcheries in 9 provinces will be upgraded to produce 1.9 billion of high quality pangasius seeds annually to supply for farmers.
In mid-September, 776,000 MT of pangasius was harvested from 4,300 hectare of farming area. Over 490,000 MT was exported, earning US$ 1.27 billion. It is estimated that by the end of this year, pangasius exports will be US$ 1.8 billion.