Planting organic vegetable in Ben Tre (Photo:VNA) Ben Tre (VNA) – The agro-forestry-fishery sector of the Mekong Delta provinceof Ben Tre should aim for an increase of two percent in 2017, said ViceChairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap, citing forecastthat drought and saline intrusion will become more severe.
In 2016,Ben Tre province suffered from prolonged droughts and saline intrusion, with hugelosses for agriculture. Therefore, the agro-forestry-fishery sector only registered a growth of 0.9percent, far below the target of 4.3 percent.
Currently,agriculture production of the province has gradually recovered, with 80 percentof damaged fruit growing areas have been restored.
Accordingto the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, as of now,the area of cultivated rice is estimated at 58,246ha, a decrease of 7.5 percentyear-on-year.
Meanwhile, the area of grass for animal husbandry was expanded by15.8 percent to 3,035ha. The acreage of coconut trees, a specialty of theprovince, also went up 1.1 percent to 69,330ha.
As aresult, the cattle herd in the province saw an 11.7 percent increase to morethan 197,000 head.
To counter droughtsand saline intrusion, local people have switched to new kinds of plants andanimals to increase provincial economic value and adaptto climate change.
Around 852ha of rice fields has been switched toother plants such as fruit trees, vegetable or grass for animal husbandry.-VNA
