HCM City pushes urban agriculture

The HCM City People’s Committee has approved a plan to develop urban agriculture to 2020 with a vision to 2025, with the target of achieving average revenue of VND300 million (US$15,800) from one ha of farmland by 2020.

Under the plan, the farmland acreage will remain at 82,600ha by 2020. Of that figure, 41.7 per cent would be for crop cultivation, 44.1 per cent for forest cultivation, and the remaining for aquatic cultivation, salt production and other farming purposes.

By 2025, the farmland will be reduced by 2,100ha to 80,500ha.

High quality rice

The plan aims to develop areas under flower and ornamental trees to 2,100ha, safe vegetables to 6,900ha, and fruits to 8,270ha.

Rice cultivation will be kept at 6,400ha and will focus on high-quality varieties.

For animal husbandry, the city will have 75,000 milch cows. It also aims to have a total of 275,000 pigs for both slaughter and breeding every year. Piglets will be supplied to other provinces and cities.

The aquatic cultivation plan will develop brackish and salt water shrimp, including black tiger shrimp, in Can Gio and Nha Be districts and the breeding of green-claw shrimp in Cu Chi, Binh Chanh and district 9.

The plan also calls for developing 1,200ha to farm bivalve mollusks such as clams and oysters.

By 2020, the city will have 200,000 domestic crocodiles, mostly breeding in districts Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and 12.

Ornamental fish breeding is targeted to reach 200-210 million fish by 2020.

The city will also set aside 180ha of land for producing aquatic breeds, with a capacity of supplying 2 billion fry of aquatic varieties a year.

In addition, the city will zone an area of 2,880ha for producing plant seeds, seedlings and animal breeds by 2020 and the area will be raised to 5,070ha in 2025, accounting for about 11 per cent of the city’s farmland.

In addition, Can Gio District will have 1,000ha under salt production in Thanh An and Ly Nhon communes, with salt productivity increasing 1.5 times compared to present.

To implement the plan, the city will spend VND71.8 trillion ($3.8 billion) from now to 2020 to invest in infrastructure for agriculture and rural development, hi-teach agricultural zones, centres for trading and exhibiting agricultural products and seafood products.

With rapid urbanisation, the number of ha of farmland in the city has fallen by an average of 1,300ha a year since 1995, according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

However, the city’s agricultural sector reached an annual average growth rate of 6 per cent in 2000-08 as the city shifted from low-yield rice paddy cultivation to farming vegetables, flowers, ornamental trees and perennial industrial trees with high economic value.

The average revenue from one ha of farmland increased to VND138 million ($7,300) last year compared to VND63 million ($3,300) in 2005, according to the department. — VNS

Tags: HCM City agriculture, Vietnam agriculture