Vietnam Agriculture - Weekly Summary (13 - 19 August 2018)

Nieuwsbericht | 20-08-2018 | 11:39

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

Aquaculture:

Dealing with the impact of weather, environment, and diseases, shrimp farmers in Thai Thuy District, Thai Binh Province have gradually shifted from extensive, semi-intensive farming to high-tech farming. Farmers can extend from 1 crop/year with extensive methods to 2 or 3 crops/year with intensive farming. Yet, with high-tech models, farmers can rotate 4-5 crops/year. From depending entirely on weather and avoiding farming in winter, people are now able to farm shrimp even in cold weather or hot summers with high technologies and indoor farming.

The adoption of high-tech in shrimp farming is a growing trend in Thai Thuy District. In the first crop with more than 18 hectares, farmers harvested 150 tons of shrimp. By the end of the second crop with 43 hectare, farmers had an output of nearly 250 tons of shrimp. In this third season, even with unstable weather, farms are still expecting and preparing for the best harvest they can have.

Processing, Import and Export:

hanh Hoa Province has more than 600 tuna fishing boats. Until now, the fisheries sector has established two supply chains linking tuna exploitation, purchasing, processing, and consumption for yellowfin tuna and striped bonito.

In the coming time, the fisheries sector will continue supporting businesses, fishermen, and all offshore fishing boats to join the existing supply chains and develop new linkages. The purpose is to improve the efficiency of tuna exploitation, and ensure the quality of raw fish for processing and export.

Livestock:

In recent months, due to the high price on the market, farmers continue to increase their number of pigs. The total number of pigs in Dong Nai Province is currently at nearly 2.25 million, increasing by 110 thousand compared to the same period last year.

Dong Nai has the largest herd of pigs in the country. More than 70% of it is raised in the form of concentrated farms. The majority of the pigs are grown by farms that outsource for processing businesses with foreign investment.

Pig price in Dong Nai is currently stable at VND50,000/kilogram, which is less volatile than the prices in northern provinces. Despite the high price, the supply of pork is still plentiful. It is forecasted that if its price remains high, the total number of pigs in the area will continue to increase.

Pet, Flowers and Ornamental Plants:

High-quality branches of orchids in Ho Chi Minh City are provided for both domestic and foreign markets. However, due to the unstable sources of flowers, even insufficiency on holiday occasions, many shops and supermarkets have to buy and sell orchids at high prices.

According to the agricultural sector of Ho Chi Minh City, in 2017, the area growing orchids in the city is about 360 hectares. It is mainly concentrated in the districts of Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh with a supply of about 7 million pots and nearly 70 million branches of orchid. The species grown are also diversified, including Mokara, Dendrobium, Rhynchostylis, Dendrobium Adastra, and others that could be worth more than VND615 billion. It is expected that the orchid area in the city will be increased to 400 hectare by 2020, 550 hectares by 2025, and 600 hectares by 2030.

Plantation:

The soil and climatic conditions of Phu Yen Province are very suitable for the growth of black pepper. Black pepper farming in this area can bring a productivity of 40 - 50 kilogram/hectare. However, growers are concerned because of the mass death occurring in their plants. The cause of mass death is mainly due to virus. For traditional farming methods using grafting or cutting, seedlings that already have pathogens will continue spreading the disease to other trees.

A solution for this situation is the propagation of black pepper by tissue culture. This method can produce disease-free seedlings to meet the needs of pepper growers.

The Center for Plant Breeding of Phu Yen Province also has developed a standardized procedure for propagation of disease-free and high-yield black pepper varieties using tissue culture. In the near future, the Center will provide their high-quality and safe seedlings for areas growing black pepper in the province.

Fruits:

Gia Lai Province has over 800 hectares of avocado, 600 hectares of durian, and about 400 hectares of jackfruit that are intercropped in coffee or black pepper gardens. The profit from intercropping is two to five times higher than that of monoculture. In particular, growing durian in coffee gardens brings the highest profit, from VND150 to 250 million/hectare/year, which is an increase of 3 to 5 times.

Gia Lai has favorable climatic conditions that are suitable for the development of high-quality fruit trees such as durian, jackfruit, mango, rambutan, and banana. Farmers in this region also plan to expand the intercrop of these fruit trees with coffee or black pepper to earn higher profit.

In recent years, investors have come and built processing plants for vegetable and fruit products in the province. The expansion of fruit tree areas has become and will become the trend for many localities in Gia Lai.

Farmers, Agriculture, Countryside:

Currently, the amount of water on Tien River and Hau River is rising quickly. It is predicted that flood level in 2018 will reach an alert degree of level II.

However, the forecast did not postpone farming and productions in Tan Chau Town, An Giang Province. In addition to rice and vegetables, farmers in this area also farm Tra fish, snakehead (Vinh Xuong and Vinh Hoa Communes); eel (Tan An and Tan Thanh Communes); and other fish that are popular in markets such as red tilapia or Pangasius conchophilus (Long An Commune). For localities such as Long Thanh, Phu Vinh, Le Chanh, and Chau Phong, farmers grow vegetables to prepare for their sale during the flood season.

Every year when the floods are coming, farmers here prepare for a successful sale season. In addition to shrimp, fish in nature, farmers can also sell vegetables and fruits to the market at high prices. During three months of flood, vegetable and fruit prices are always stable at high levels.