January 4, 2012

According to local news, Mekong Delta is forecasted to produce 1.2 million tonnes of pangasius fish in 2012.

Pangasius farmers in provinces of Dong Thap, An Giang, Ben Tre, Vinh Long and Can Tho will use 5,440 hectares of surface water to breed the fish, said the Voice of Vietnam Radio (VOV).

Breeders and processing factories will closely cooperate by signing contracts on the consumption of fish, the radio said.

To avoid the shortage of high quality varieties of pangasius fish, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is implementing a plan to upgrade four centres to produce high quality pangasius fish in provinces in the delta.

At the same time, the MARD will also build laboratories with modern facilities on quality control of fish for An Giang, Dong Thap, Vinh Long, Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Tra Vinh provinces and Can Tho city.

In 2011, the provinces in the Mekong Delta exported 607,000 tonnes of pangasius fish worth US$1.67 billion.