Thewetland covers a site of over 697,000ha, accounting for 17.7 percent of theregion’s total coverage.
NguyenVan Man, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tan Phuoc district – the only lyingin Dong Thap Muoi in Tien Giang province, said since the Dong Thap Muoi reclamationscheme began in the late 1980s, the State has unearthed and dredged nearly680km of major canals and over 1,100km of interior field canals to drain floodwater and improve soil.
Localitiesplaced 135 anti-flooding sacks with a total length of nearly 400km andinstalled 125 electric drainage stations capable of serving over 100ha each.
LeThi Yen, head of the Planning Office from the provincial Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development said the provincial agriculture sectorpartnered with agencies concerned to launch a comprehensive support programmefor pineapple cultivation, including technological transfer, epidemics and pestcontrol, farming under GAP standards, registration for trademark protection,among others.
Thedistrict is so far home to over 16,000ha of pineapple, the largest in the Tienriver and Tien Giang in particular, yielding nearly 300,000 tonnes per year.
Farmersin Cai Be district have grown over 2,000ha of citrus, mostly oranges andgrapefruits, raising the total area of fruit farming in the locality to morethan 16,700ha.
Tohelp farmers cope with disasters, localities encouraged farmers to set up specialisedcultivation areas and grow rice and raise fishes in rotation.
Thedistricts of Tan Hung, Vinh Hung, Moc Hoa, Tan Thach, Thanh Hoa and Kien Tuongtownship are considered the largest rice granaries in the Mekong Delta provinceof Long An with a total output of around 2 million tonnes per year.
Theprovince is embarking on a hi-tech agricultural development project, in which20,000ha will be built in the above districts with a view to improving foodsafety, product value and economic competitiveness.
Initially,a model of building 2,900ha of rice using advanced technology will be built,ensuring that extra 17,000ha will be expanded by 2020.
Since2014, Long An has launched an aquaculture facilitation programme in Dong ThapMuoi’s districts, costing upwards 25 billion VND. There are over 1,700ha ofaquaculture in the localities now with a total output of more than 21,000tonnes.
Theabove programmes have initially produced positive results, contributing to raisingfarmers’ income. - VNA