Kien Giang (VNA) - The Mekong Delta province of KienGiang will focus on increasing the value and competitiveness of its agricultureproduce this year, especially key items such as rice and fisheries, accordingto the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Kien Giang, the country’s largest rice producer,targets producing 4.3 million tonnes of paddy this year, as well as catchingand breeding a total of 755,000 tonnes of aquatic species, including 85,000tonnes of shrimp.

Last year, the province harvested more than 4.2million tonnes of paddy and the rate of high quality rice farming areaaccounted for 72 percent of the province’s total rice farming area.

The province also had 56 large - scale ricefields with a combined area of more than 33,000ha in many districts like HonDat, Go Quao, Tan Hiep and Chau Thanh districts.

It caught and bred a total of 845,430 tonnes ofaquatic species last year. Of the figure, the outlet of shrimp cultivation wasmore than 82,000 tonnes, up 11 percent against 2018.

Agriculture production in the province facedseveral difficulties like early saltwater intrusion and declining fisheriesresources last year, but it still exceeded the province’s targets foragriculture production last year.

To meet the targets this year, the province willfocus on developing large commercial production to meet market demand.

This year the province will also establish moreconcentrated farming areas for agriculture produce.

Farmers will be encouraged to develop biologicalfarming as well as cooperate with companies to establish value chains foragriculture produce.

It will strengthen managing the quality of riceseeds and increase the farming area of high-quality rice to 80 percent of theprovince’s total rice farming area this year.

In the fishing sector, the province willgradually reduce the quantity of catches and regenerate natural fisheriesresources.

Quang Trong Thao, Deputy Director of theDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, said fishermen had beenencouraged to apply advanced techniques for post-harvest preservation toimprove the quality and value of caught aquatic species.

“The province will better manage its fishinggrounds and fishing activities in accordance with regulations,” he said.

In the aquaculture sector, the province willdevelop sustainable marine aquaculture along the coast, off-shore and islands.It will also diversify farming models and kinds of farmed aquatic species, especiallyaquatic species for export like shrimp.

The province will expand the model of breedingshrimp in two stages as it has offered high yield and quality.

Other effective and sustainable models like therotation of shrimp and rice on the same rice field in coastal districts of UMinh Thuong and Hon Dat will be further developed.

The province has about 62,500ha of shrimp – ricefarming area, the largest area in the delta. Under the model, farmers grow ricein the rainy season and breed shrimp in the dry season on the same rice fields.

The shrimp – rice farming model has been usedfor more than 20 years as it is environmentally friendly and is more effectivethan rice monoculture./.