The Mekong Delta province of Long An has planned to expand its aquaculture area to 7,900 ha by 2015 and 11,200 ha by 2020.

With the expansion, the locality hopes to produce 37,400 and 56,800 tonnes of products in 2015 and 2020 respectively, according to a plan announced on July 14.

Under the scheme, the farming area will be divided into three main zones by 2020. Zone 1 covers 5,777 ha in the districts of Tan Hung, Vinh Hung, Moc Hoa, Tan Thanh,Thu Thua, Duc Hue and Kien Tuong town. Zone 2 encompasses 734 ha in the northeast districts of Duc Hoa and Ben Luc, and Tan An city. Zone 3 will include a salty-brackish ecology area in Can Giuoc, Can Duoc, Chau Thanh and Tan Tru districts with a land area of 4,769 ha.

The locality will also set up aquaculture preservation zones with a total area of over 200 ha in several districts in Dong Thap Muoi area, while bringing the total number of breeding farms to 100, which are capable of churning out 2.3 billion of breeds by 2020.

To realise the targets, the local agricultural sector will focusing on developing technical infrastructure, applying scientific and technological advances in production, training workforce, protecting the environment and diversifying various models of production, processing and exploitation, among others./.