Vietnam Agriculture - Weekly Summary (23 - 29 July 2018)

A weekly summary of agriculture development and production in Vietnam by VietLinh online.

Aquaculture:

Crab farming in Nam Can District, Ca Mau Province, has been developed for a long time. It is mainly combined with shrimp farming with low stocking density, and thus, with low yield. Recently, the functional sector of Nam Can District has implemented the model of two-stage, semi-intensive crab farming in Ham Rong Commune, which brings positive results.

The first stage of this model is implemented in 4 to 6 weeks, in small ponds with industrial feed. In the second stage, crabs are moved to larger ponds and fed with local rough fish. Farming water and environment are closely monitored.

Following the procedure, after 6 months of farming, the average weight of each crab is from 250 to 450 gram. With a stocking rate at one crab each square meter, the profit farmers earn can reach about VND180 million/hectare. This is an unexpected result for farmers. Crab farming so far reduces the risk of loss compared to monoculture, intensive, or semi-intensive shrimp farming.

Processing, Import and Export:

The Vietnam Fisheries International Expo 2018 (Vietfish 2018) organized by Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) will take place on August 22 to August 24, 2018 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietfish 2018 is expected to attract more than 10,000 domestic and international visitors, seafood importers, exporters, service providers, businesses, retailers, NGOs and news agencies.

In the framework of Vietfish 2018, VASEP is planning to hold 9 specialized seminars discussing current issues and topics related to the fishery sector.

Livestock:

In recent years, edible bird's nest farming in Dong Nai Province has increased dramatically. According to farmers, although this type of farming depends on luck to earn high profit, due to the increasing value of bird’s nests, more and more people invest in this career.

Feeding edible-nest swiftlets is quite simple because they require little care or investment in feed. The species is also less likely to be infected by diseases.

The price of 1 kilogram of bird’s nests can be up to tens of millions of Vietnamese dong. However, the investment to build a bird’s nest house is very large at up to a billion of Vietnamese dong. At the same time, it took several years to attract the swiftlets to come and build their nests. Many houses were built for a long time, but couldn’t attract any swiftlets.

Farming edible-nest swiftlets is a long-standing profession in Dong Nai Province. Although the price of bird’s nests is soaring, unplanned and unsustainable development of swiftlet farming can bring the adverse effects.

Plantation:

Nowadays, when the demand for essential oils for perfumes and cosmetics is increasing rapidly, people are inclined to use natural compounds. For example, the experiment of mint farming for oil extraction in Binh An Commune, Bac Binh District, Binh Thuan Province proved promising results.

Mint from Japan was selected to grow in a pilot area of ​​the Phan Ri - Phan Thiet Irrigation Project in October 2016. Japanese mint has the highest concentration of essential oil compared to other mint species. In Vietnam, there are many mint varieties. Yet, because of their low oil content, these trees are only used for food and not for oil extraction.

One thing that succeeded beyond the experts’ expectations of this project was that the oil content of mint in this region was about 0.7-1%, higher than traditional mint-farming areas in Northern Delta by about 20%. This is a good signal for the development mint growing in Binh Thuan Province.

Fruits:

Hung Yen Province is considered by many people as a cradle of Northern longan farming. Due to the cold weather in Winter 2017 - 2018, this year, most of Hung Yen's longan areas can be harvested early.

The longan crop this year is one of the crops with recorded high yields in Hung Yen. It is expected to reach over 40,000 tons, an increase of over 40% over the same period last year. Currently, the price of early harvested longan bought in gardens is ranging from VND30 to 35 thousand/kg. It is expected that from July to the main harvest (August 15 to September 15), longan price will gradually decline.

Hung Yen is not the only place noticing a record-breaking season, all other farming regions in Northern provinces of Vietnam also have high longan yields, including the key province of Son La. Overall, longan trees this year bloom earlier than last year.

Farmers, Agriculture, Countryside:

The renovation project of Vinh Tien factory in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, has been approved. With this project, each year, the factory will produce more than 1.8 million liters of wine; 100,000 liters of liquor; 300,000 kilograms of tea; 100.000 liters of beverage, and 100,000 liters of fruit juice.

At the same time, each year, Vinh Tien factory will produce a variety of other products such as artichoke, herbal medicines with 100,000 liters of oral solution and 4.500 kilograms of capsules, tablets. Along with that, the factory will provide to the market 150 kilograms of dried caterpillar fungus; 20,000 strawberries, and develop tissue culture with 200,000 artichokes and 1 million Anthocephalus sinensis (Lank A.Rich ex Walp) trees.

Living and Environment:

After more than 20 years, on an area of 5 hectares, Le Thanh Nghia and his family in Tan Ho Commune, Tan Hong District, Dong Thap Province, have planted more than 5,000 bamboo trees of different kinds.

These bamboo varieties are collected in many places in and outside of Vietnam. They are a part of Le’s idea of building a shelter for 12 species of birds, including little egret and waterhen. He plants and cares for the bamboo trees to provide a safe place for wildlife and conserve natural habitat.

By Sonia LV - Copyright © VietLinh