March 28, 2006
Vietnam sets its sight on aquaculture in Ca Mau
Farmers in the Ca Mau Peninsula at the southern tip of Vietnam would soon be the country's major exporters of aquaculture products, said Ca Mau provincial Department of Fisheries Director Pham Van Duc.
Duc says more than 430,000ha of water surface in the peninsula have been designated for farming aquaproducts, mainly shrimps.
The peninsula is made up of Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces. With an area of nearly 1million hectares, a coastline of more than 307km and numerous networks of canals, the peninsula is well suited for agro-forestry and fishery development. With the rich bio-diversity as a result of both its fresh and saline water resources, the region is perfect for agricultural products, including aqua-culture products, Duc said.
The Vietnamese government has been investing huge amounts of money in infrastructure development, including irrigation, transport and electricity projects.
However, implementation has been plagued by problems such as the region's geographical characteristics, criss-crossing canals and weak soil conditions in addition to changing water conditions where the rivers have fresh water in the rainy seasons and saline water in the dry seasons.