The establishment of five new specialised rice-growing areas is underway in the Mekong Delta to meet the growing demand of domestic and international markets, said Le Thanh Tung from the Department of Plant Cultivation under the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development.

The five areas include the Ca Mau Peninsula, the Tay Song Hau (western Hau River) area, the Tu Giac Long Xuyen region, alluvia soil along the Tien and Hau Rivers, and the Dong Thap Muoi region cultivating specific rice varieties in large-scale fields in accordance with their conditions.

According to the Department, the Mekong Delta should review and focus on ensuring a variety of rice types to promote high-quality and high-yield production.

The Mekong Delta region, the nation’s largest granary, currently has a large-scale rice field area of around 100,000 hectares.

The rice field area in the Mekong Delta will be expanded to 800,000 hectares by 2020, equal to 20 percent of the annual rice-producing area of the region and producing an output of 4.5 million tonnes of brown rice, according to Vinafood 2.-VNA