Kien Giang (VNS/VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has managedoutstanding socio-economic development in the first five months of this yeardespite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its People’s Committee.

Chairman ofthe provincial People’s Committee Lam Minh Thanh attributed it to authoritiesat all levels proactively implementing development measures. Most sectors haveachieved excellent growth so far, he said.

Industrialproduction grew by 10.6 percent year-on-year to more than 20.4 trillion VND (870million USD).

Its retailsales and services grew by 10 percent to 49.8 trillion VND (2.16 billion USD).

Exports wereup nearly 16 percent at 317 million USD, with rice accounting for 111 million USDand seafood for 94 million USD.

Farmers in theprovince reaped a bumper harvest and got high prices for the 2020-2021 winter –spring rice crop to earn an average of 40 million VND (1,740 USD) per hectare,according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Aquacultureoutput was up 9.1 percent at more than 62,000 tonnes.

The provincetargets total exports of 750 million USD this year, and to step up promotion ofagricultural products to expand export markets and boost the output of keyitems rice and seafood.

Agricultural production

Kien Giang hasbeen the country’s largest rice producer for long, and more than 50 percent ofits workforce is in the agricultural sector.

The provincehas implemented various measures to develop agriculture, especially rice andseafood production, in recent years.

They includedeveloping efficient faming models adapted to climate change and sustainabledevelopment.

The provinceis developing the large-scale rice field model in which farmers pool theirfields, grow the same rice varieties, use the same farming techniques and havethe same crop schedule under contracts that guarantee purchase of the entireharvest.

It is alsodeveloping aquaculture, especially the models of breeding shrimp under advancedfarming techniques and other environmental friendly models like rice – shrimpfarming model in coastal areas.

Under therice-shrimp farming model, farmers rotate between rice in the rainy season andshrimp in the dry season on the same field to adapt to saltwater intrusion incoastal areas.

The model alsoproduces clean rice and shrimp as farmers use few chemicals.

They harvestabout 4 – 4.5 tonnes of rice and 450 – 500 kg of shrimp per hectare annually,earning 100 – 130 million VND (4,300 – 5,600 USD), according to the Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development.

With acoastline of more than 200 kilometres, the province plans to turn moremono-rice fields in coastal areas into rice-shrimp farming fields to adapt toclimate change.

Hon Dat district,which has the largest area under rice in the province, is zoned for 16,000ha ofrice-shrimp fields in coastal areas by 2030, according to its Bureau ofAgriculture and Rural Development.   

“Farmers inthe district are actively turning monoculture rice fields into rice-shrimpfields,” Le Van Giau, head of the bureau, said.

“The districtplans to have 2,500ha of rice-shrimp fields this year.”

In 2017-2020the province switched to other crops and aquaculture on more than 32,800ha ofunproductive rice fields, helping increase production efficiency and farmers’incomes.

The incomefrom these fields has been increased by 35 percent, according to the Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development.

Quang TrongThao, deputy director of the department, said the province has restructured itscrops to suit conditions in each area and achieved high efficiency.

Besides, ithas boosted the use of advanced farming techniques and machinery to improveyield and quality and reduce costs, he said.

Kien Giang hadmore 725,800ha under paddy and harvested 4.5 million tonnes last year, 5 percentmore than the target.

It also had100 large-scale rice fields with a combined area of 30,672ha last year.

To sustainablydevelop agriculture, it has strengthened investment in infrastructure,especially irrigation, to prevent saltwater intrusion and secure water forcultivation, according to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It has builthundreds of temporary dams to prevent saltwater intrusion and store freshwater,properly regulated the operation of sluices and electric pumping stations tosupply water to the Long Xuyen Quadrangle, the western part of the Hau Riverdelta and the U Minh Thuong region. 

In the ongoingsummer – autumn rice crop, the province plans to grow 280,000ha of rice andharvest an estimated 5 – 60 tonnes per hectare. 

The province’srice output will be 4.2 million tonnes this year, according to the Departmentof Agriculture and Rural Development.

The provinceplans to breed brackish water shrimp on 136,000ha this year using industrial,semi-industrial, advanced extensive and rice – shrimp farming models.

It hasdeveloped concentrated farming areas and value chains for key products likerice, vegetables, mango, pineapple, and pepper on a total area of more than100,000ha.

Its averageannual agricultural output per hectare last year was worth 100 million VND (4,300USD), up nearly 22 million VND since 2015, according to the department./.