An Giang (VNA) – Director of AnGiang province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Nguyen Sy Lam hassuggested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) collaboratewith relevant agencies to accelerate the building of a trademark for tra fish(catfish) in the Mekong Delta.

He made the proposal during a working session on February 23 with a delegation from the MARD led byDeputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, which reviewed the province's production in 2021 and launched tasks for 2022.

An Giang province has 1,230 hectares of catfish farming of which enterprises and affiliate households account for 1,049 hectares producing 400,000 – 450,000tonnes of catfish per year. There are 21 processing plants with a capacity of 323,000 tonnes of catfish inthe locality.

The province’s aquaculture production last year is estimated at 520,000 tonnes,a reduction of 6,000 tonnes from that of 2020, reported the DARD, adding thatit is expected to increase to 564,000 tonnes this year.

In order to turn An Giang into a production centre of rice and aquaticvarieties of the Mekong Delta, the province needs assistance in carrying out aproject on producing high quality young catfish in the region that has beenapproved, Lam said.

He called on the MARD soon propose the Government initiate a pricestabilisation fund for rice and catfish products because they are key productsof the country, the Mekong Delta in general and An Giang province inparticular. He believed that it will help the rice and catfish industry avoidthe adverse effects of the market, achieving sustainable development in thefuture.

It is necessary for the MARD to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry andTrade in conducting surveys and forecasting market demand for domesticconsumption and for exports, Lam said.

Solutions should be adopted as soon as possible to stablise the price of inputmaterials to facilitate the development of the catfish industry, he added.

While praising its efforts in agriculture restructuring, Tiensaid An Giang should take advantage of the domestic market to create a linkageon the sale of agricultural products, especially putting them into wholesaleand traditional markets, especially Ho Chi Minh City market.

To exploit agricultural advantages and turn agriculture into a driving force topromote socio-economic development of the province, Tien suggested An Giang push up the change of mindset in agriclture, building processing factories,developing large-scale agricultural farms as well as promoting the applicationof high technology./.