A conference was held in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang on March 23 to discuss how to realize the 10 billion USD shrimp export target by 2025 as requested by the Prime Minister.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam directed agencies concerned and localities to keep a close track of weather patterns and epidemic diseases as well as increase output from now on, especially amid the uncertain climate change at present.
Localities should adopt more technological advances in production, with a focus on controlling the quality of fries and spreading effective farming models, he suggested.
This year, the country strives to breed 700,000ha of shrimp with nearly 130 billion fries for an output of 660,000 tonnes.
To that end, the Directorate of Fisheries outlined four specific measures involving environment monitoring and forecast, and response to drought and saline intrusion; fries quality and production; feed management and bio-produce for shrimp farming; and breeding technical process.
It said though suffering lesser impacts from drought and saline intrusion than in the same period last year, the region is still hit by unseasonal rainfalls and changing temperatures, which partly hurts shrimp breeding.
Statistics showed that the new farming coverage has so far surpassed 536,440ha, mostly prawn (more than 521,000ha) and the remaining 15,000ha is for white leg shrimp farming. The total production is estimated at around 40,000 tonnes this year, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year.
Associate Professor Truong Quoc Phu from Can Tho University proposed developing organic shrimp breeding models and opening centres for shrimp fries research to ease reliance on imported ones, making it easier for the formation of value chains and attract more investments.
Luong Minh Quyet, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, suggested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development offer advice on building a Decree on the management of processing, exporting and developing shrimp farming in brackish water.
In order to minimise risks for breeders, he also called attention to relevant agricultural insurance policies and breeders’ access to capital.