Delta urged to develop rice varieties

The Mekong Delta should pour more investment into research and technology to create high-yield, disease-resistant rice varieties that can adapt to climate change, according to speakers at a meeting held in Can Tho on Tuesday.

Held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Can Tho City People’s Committee, the meeting looked at the development of rice and tra fish cultivation in a sustainable manner.

Le Van Banh, head of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute, said the reclamation of land for rice cultivation, improvement of irrigating systems and creation of new rice varieties had increased the Delta’s rice output from 4.2 million tonnes in 1976 to 21 million tonnes this year.

Despite progress, rice production still lacked high-yield and high-quality rice varieties, processing technologies and a sufficient number of warehouses. There was also a high rate of post-harvest losses (14 per cent).

The knowledge and skills of farmers were uneven and the investment in the Delta’s agriculture sector was still low, leaving farmers at high risk.

Participants said the Delta should develop rice co-operatives to create large rice-growing areas and find stable outlets for rice production.

Co-operation between the State, enterprises, farmers and scientists must be improved.

The delta should also improve farmers’ knowledge and skills, mechanise rice production, build rice brandnames, improve market information systems, and call on more non-State investors investing in creating new rice varieties, they said.

Le Ngoc Dien from the Can Tho City Sub-department of Fisheries said the area under tra fish breeding had increased from 1,290ha in 1997 to 5,540ha last year. Tra output has also risen from 17 tonnes per hectare in 1997 to 250 tonnes per hectare in 2009.

Many tra fish breeding areas have met the Safe Quality Food 1000 (SQF 1000) and Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) standards. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam agriculture, Vietnam rice