Southern farmers upgrade cultivation, production methods

Thanks to the application of modern technologies in production and investment in machinery and equipment, farmers in the south have enjoyed greater economic benefits.

Farmers in the south are changing production to meet the requirements of international economic integration

Changes

The Mekong Delta is the birthplace of many kinds of sweet fresh fruits. With the application of modern technologies in production, local farmers’ living conditions have been significantly improved.

Tran Quoc Trong from Long An Province specializes in making wine from dragon fruit, a process that has brought economic benefits for him and thousands of farmers in the province. In the past, he was worried when no one bought all his dragon fruit yield. After a talk with Dr. Vo Mai from the Vietnam Gardening Association, he decided to invest in machinery and equipment to make wine from dragon fruit. He also founded a facility designed to produce 40,000 liters of wine annually. He plans to further investment in order to increase capacity and provide more products for the market.

Lam Mong Thuy from Tra Vinh Province specializes in producing coconut oil. After a long time of experiment with many traditional and modern methods, she has found a method of cold production using enzyme technology enabling products to keep their natural nutrients with good quality, uniform color, unique aroma, and long preservation time. Her products have met the requirements of Japanese importers. In addition, she has brought her products to the Tra Vinh e-commerce trading floor to expand consumption.

Farmers in the south are changing production to meet the requirements of international economic integration. For example, farmers in An Giang Province have established a cooperative and shifted from rice cultivation to mango farming. As of date, the cooperative has 1,100ha of mango, including 70ha grown in accordance with VietGAP standards. With help from the local government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the cooperative has signed an initial agreement on exporting mango to the Chinese border county of Dongxing.

Greater efforts

The Mekong Delta is also the country’s leading seafood export region, with the most prominent product being tra fish (pangasius). Tra fish fat is a byproduct of the export process, which has very low value. However, the Sao Mai Group has utilized this byproduct for processing high-grade cooking oil. The product has been recognized by international markets such as the US and Japan.

In addition to positive results, the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta has faced many problems. Dong Thap Provincial Party Committee Secretary Le Minh Hoan said if it focuses on increasing growing areas and production, the agricultural sector will face a decline in prices. Therefore, investment in high-tech agriculture projects to improve quality and productivity is necessary.

In terms of agricultural mechanization, Vietnam currently has no support industries for agriculture. Therefore, the establishment of support industries for agriculture is needed.

Nguyen Truong Chinh, chairman of the Tra Vinh Specialty Club, said the Mekong Delta in general and Tra Vinh Province in particular has lots of specialties. However, production scale remains small. To further expand scale, state management agencies should provide more support for farmer households and small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.