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Large-scale fields expand in Mekong Delta

Can Tho, May 28 (VNA) – The large-scale farming model is expanding in the Mekong Delta with the acreage of large-scale fields increasing more than 37 times over the past three years, it was reported at a conference in Can Tho City on May 27.

At the conference, officials from ministries, localities, sectors, and scientists affirmed that the model helps cut production costs while improving efficiency and product quality by establishing linkage among farmers and making it easier for farmers to connect with the State, scientists and enterprises.

Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Southwest Region Nguyen Quoc Viet said the model is in line with the policy of restructuring agricultural production and building modern rural areas.

According to Viet, the combined area of large-scale fields in the Mekong Delta was around 7,800 hectares in 2011 but it increased to 290,000 ha in 2014.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Agriculture Association said the model facilitates the application of science and technology in agricultural production and product quality control.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director of the Department of Cultivation Pham Van Du said expanding the large scale farming model will contribute to realising the plan of establishing a 1-million-ha rice commodity production area for export and building the region’s rice brandname.

The Mekong Delta covers a total area of about 40,000 square kilometres with a population of 18 million, and is the largest rice production hub of Vietnam.

It has some 2.3 million ha of land for rice cultivation with two main crops a year, producing between 12- 14 million tonnes each year.

In 2014, Mekong Delta provinces exported 6 million tonnes of rice, raking in 2.8 billion USD. Of the amount, 80 percent was consumed in Asia and Africa, 17 percent in the EU and North America and the remaining in the Middle East and Oceania.
VNA/VNP


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