(seafood.vasep.com.vn) According to the statistics of the Directorate of Fisheries, as of the end of June 2020, the area of pangasius farming nationwide is estimated at 4,530 hectares equaling to 95.7% compared to the same period in 2019. The harvested area is 1,536 hectares (equal to 78% over the same period in 2019).
Production of pangasius by the end of June 2020 is estimated at 587.3 thousand MT, equaling 86.5% over the same period, reaching 36% of the plan in 2020. In which, farming area and harvest output are concentrated in the five key provinces (Dong Thap, An Giang, Can Tho, Ben Tre, and Vinh Long).
Production of pangasius varieties in the first 6 months of 2020 in localities of the Mekong Delta was stable. In the whole Mekong Delta, there are more than 200 establishments producing pangasius seeds (which grow pangasius broodstock), nearly 3,000 ha are nursing pangasius breeds; about 0.9 billion pangasius breeds were produced (equal to 100% compared to the same period in 2019). The establishments have replaced 45,000 broodstock selections, so the quality of pangasius seed has been gradually improving.
According to the Directorate of Fisheries, in the first months of 2020, production, processing and export of pangasius tended to decrease due to the compounded impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged saline intrusion. Meanwhile, pangasius production in 2019 reached 1.42 million MT.