November 7, 2005

Vietnam's Ca Mau seeks US$1 billion in shrimp exports by 2010

Vietnam's southern province of Ca Mau sought US$1 billion worth of shrimp exports by 2010. As such, local authorities have planned to increase shrimp farming area in the province.

Ca Mau's crustacean exports were expected to reach US$450 million in 2005.

Over the past four years, local authorities have encouraged shrimp breeding in paddy fields, besides increasing shrimp farming in mangrove forests and other areas. This helped the province achieve US$1.4 billion worth of shrimp exports during the period.

Modern farming methods were also employed, which helped the seafood sector harvest 258,500 tonnes of shrimp during the same period.

These measures have reportedly made Ca Mau Vietnam's biggest shrimp producer and supplier of shrimp hybrids.

905 shrimp farms were established in the province last year, to allow self- sufficiency in producing shrimp hybrids instead of depending on imports. As such, the province now supplied for over half of Vietnam's entire shrimp breed demand.

750 centres were also set up to purchase raw shrimp from farmers and supply them to processing plants.

The government has also trained about 92,000 households, or 70 per cent of Ca Mau's total shrimp farmers, in shrimp farming techniques.

In addition, local authorities and the public have invested VND300 billion (about US$20 million) to build irrigation works and dredge canals to provide water for shrimp farms.