The southern province of Kien Giang has targeted an output of 4.6 million tonnes of unhusked rice and 168,000 tonnes of aquatic products in 2014 in a bid to further develop its key sectors of agriculture and aquaculture.

For agricultural production, the province will focus on developing an intensive farming model to increase productivity, while improving product quality.

It also plans to change wild and forest land into cultivated areas, increasing the total farmland to 769,500 ha next year.

The provincial agriculture sector has instructed local farmers in how to apply scientific and technological advances to their farming work to reduce production cost, while expanding the model of large-scale fields according to the Vietnam Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) standard and promoting cooperation between rice exporters and farmers.

In the field of aquaculture, the locality attaches importance to farming fish at sea around islands in Phu Quoc, Kien Hai, Kien Luong districts and Ha Tien town.

In addition, it has also deployed a plan to cultivate shrimp in the Long Xuyen Quadruple area while expanding combined cultivation area of crab and shrimp, and increasing the farming area of blood clam in An Bien and An Minh districts.

Along with these initiatives, Kien Giang is also committed to building and upgrading sea embankments, transport and an electricity infrastructure system to create favourable conditions for enterprises to expand production areas, thus improving the productivity and quality of products.-VNA