The Mekong Delta has targeted an annual rice output of 24 million tonnes from 2020 to 2030 to remain as the country’s top rice producer.

To reach the goal, the region is required to zone 4.3 million hectares of land for rice farming from now to 2030.

Localities are also working with research institutes to apply new biotechnology allowing the creation of new rice varieties and improving existing ones.

From now to 2015, Mekong Delta provinces plan to increase the mechanisation of farm work to minimise post-harvest and storage losses. They are set to popularise sustainable cultivation techniques to enlarge high-quality rice areas in order to satisfy domestic and international demands.

From 2015 onwards, the localities will multiply cultivation under the Good Agricultural Practices so that the area under clean rice will account for at least 40 percent of rice land.

They plan to expand the processing technology to reduce the sector’s dependence on export and turn rice into materials for the processing industry, thus raising rice value and creating jobs for locals.

According to the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute, the region increased its rice output from 4.2 million tonnes in 1976 to 24.5 million tonnes in 2012.-VNA