The application of high technology in orchid plantation has offered farmers higher profits (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – The average production value per hectare of agriculturalland in Ho Chi Minh City has increased year after year even as the area shrank,according to the municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Last year the value increased by 10.9 percent to450 million VND (19,806 USD) per hectare, among the highest in the country.
This was a result of shifting the farmingstructure towards an urban-oriented model and increasing the use ofsophisticated technologies.
Thus, in some places, unproductive rice andsugarcane growing areas became farms growing bonsai, flowers and vegetables,bringing farmers higher profits.
More than 389ha of lands were converted lastyear, up 385.5 percent, and farmers grow vegetables and fruits in them.
Vegetables bring revenues of 1-1.4 billion VNDper hectare annually; orchids, around 2 billion VND; dairy cows (at a scale of20 head per household), 800 million VND; shrimp, 2.7-3 billion VND per hectare;and ornamental fish, 10-12 billion VND per hectare. These farmers earn 30-40percent profits.
According to the department, vegetables weregrown on a total of 17,270ha, 12.4 percent up from 2016, with the output rising14.3 percent to more than 419,410 tonnes.
The city also had around 2,300ha of land underflowers and ornamental trees, up 7 percent.
There were 142,653 cows, a year-on-year decreaseof 6.6 percent, and 343,300 pigs, a decrease of 4.6 percent, it said.
Aquaculture and seafood output rose by 5.5percent.
The city exported 18.2 million ornamental fishesfor 20 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 21.2 percent, it said.
Agriculture accounted for only 0.8 percent ofthe city’s economy, but it was worth 19.6 trillion VND, comparable to one ofthe country’s larger agricultural provinces.
Its agro-forestry and fisheries sectors expandedat 6.3 percent, 2.2 times the national average.
This year, the farm sector would strive to raiseaverage production per hectare to 500 million VND and grow agro-forestry andfisheries by 6 percent, the department said.
To achieve its targets, it said the city wouldcontinue its agricultural restructuring, especially enhancing the use ofhigh-tech methods including bio-technology to provide safe and qualityproducts.-VNA
VNA
