The southern province of Tien Giang has been conducting safe vegetable and fruit production models with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Accordingly, the province is developing two areas of clean vegetable production that satisfy Vietnam Agriculture Practice (VietGAP) standards in Chau Thanh district and Go Cong town, and a 30-ha dragon fruit growing area in accordance with GlobalGAP’s standards in Cho Gao district.

More than 500 households, including poor families, participate in the models, which are part of the “improving quality and safety of agricultural products and developing biogas” project.

The project has been implemented in Tien Giang since 2007 at a cost of over 3.63 million USD, of which more than 2.9 million USD was funded by ADB.

The financial assistance from ADB helps the province improve the quality and safety of its agricultural products, strengthen quality control and management, and surmount difficulties in processing and consuming products in order to meet market demand.

The aid also contributes to promoting the development of a high quality and integrated agriculture in Vietnam.

At present, Tien Giang has more than 30,000 hectares of vegetables, with a yearly yield of 600,000 tonnes, and over 70,000 hectares of fruit, generating millions of tonnes of produce every year.

The province has formed a number of vegetable areas in Chau Thanh, Go Cong and Cho Gao; a dragon fruit in Cho Gao, a durian area in Cai Lay; and a star apple area in Vinh Kim, Chau Thanh.-VNA