The use of advanced technologies in Long An province has improved profits for farmers, just south of Cambodia’s Prey Veng and Svay Rieng provinces, the Vietnamese province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

For the last five years, the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province has applied high-tech methods to cultivate 2,082ha of dragon fruit, 15,075ha of rice, 1,476ha of vegetables and 4,000 cows for meat.

The products are produced under Vietnamese or Global Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP or GlobalGAP) standards.

Phan Quoc Chinh, who has 1ha of dragon fruit under GlobalGAP standards in Chau Thanh district, said he had invested in automatic drip and spray irrigation systems for his orchard. The systems use irrigation water and fertiliser effectively, he said.

Rice, dragon fruit, vegetables and cows are the province’s key agriculture products. Shrimp is expected to be a key agriculture product for export in the future.

Many cooperatives and cooperative groups in the province are engaged in high-tech shrimp farming.

In Can Giuoc district, for instance, five cooperatives and 42 cooperative groups are involved in the model. Each farmer spends an initial cost of 200-300 million dong ($8,600-12,900) for equipment per 1,000sqm of shrimp ponds. The model saves labour costs, reduces the shrimp death rate and produces quality shrimp.

Farmers can harvest about three tonnes of shrimp per 1,000sqm pond after three months of breeding and earn a profit of 100 million dong.

Nguyen Thanh Dien in Can Giuoc’s Phuoc Vinh Dong commune said he harvested five-to-seven tonnes per 2,000sqm from this high-tech shrimp pond. The profit was two to three times higher than traditional farming methods, he said.

The province plans to have more than 6,800ha of brackish shrimp this year, including 200ha using high-tech farming.

Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development deputy director Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh said brackish shrimp farming areas combined with high-tech shrimp farming would breed three to four shrimp crops a year.

This would increase yield and quality, protect the environment and develop sustainable production, she said.

To produce products of even quality and size and in large amounts, the province has created favourable conditions for agriculture cooperatives. The province helps them access advanced farming techniques and develop value chains for their products.

It has also promoted linkages among farmers and companies to produce and buy agricultural produce, especially high-tech products.

With the province’s support, the Tam Nong Viet High-Tech Agriculture Cooperative in Can Giuoc district has received an automatic irrigation system to grow honeydew melon in poly-greenhouses.

Tam Nong Viet director Dinh Bat Quy said the cooperative produces clean produce and has stable outlets. It also grows vegetables in poly-greenhouses.

The Muoi Hai Clean Vegetable Cooperative in Can Duoc district plants 40 kinds of VietGAP-quality vegetables on a total area of 163ha and sells to supermarkets in and outside the province.

Muoi Hai director Le Van Giay said the cooperative planted vegetables in net houses and used drip and spray irrigation systems.

The cooperative invested in warehouses to preserve harvested vegetables according to the requirements of its purchasing partners, he said.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK