HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development has implemented several measures to developthe best breeding sources to produce seeds for the delta’s fishery, fruit andrice sectors by 2025.

The development of breeds is part of the delta's restructuringof agriculture towards sustainability and adaptation to climate change.

The delta’s key aquatic species are shrimp and trafish which are among the delta’s top export products.

The delta produces an annual yield of 1.2 milliontonnes but production of tra fry only meets 40 -50 percent of its demand.

Last year the ministry approved a three-tiercooperation plan for production of high-quality tra fish breeds in the delta to2025.

By 2025, tra fish breeding chains will supply 100percent of the delta’s demand of 2.5 – 3 billion high-quality fry a year.

The ministry will continue supporting the ResearchInstitute for Aquaculture No. 2 to conduct research and create tra fish parentsto supply to tra fry producers.

It will create favourable conditions for companiesto participate in producing tra fish parents and supplying them to the delta’stra fry producers.

The delta has about 669,000ha of brackish watershrimp, mostly black-tiger shrimp and white-legged shrimp, accounting fornearly 93 percent of the country’s total area.

Shrimp fry producers in the delta supply about48.3 percent of the delta’s shrimp fry demand and the rest are bought fromsouth-central provinces.

The difficulty in shrimp fry production is thatthe country has not created shrimp parents to produce fry of black-tiger shrimpand white-legged shrimp.

To manage the quality shrimp fry and parents, theministry will tighten inspection of the import of shrimp parent breeders.

The ministry will also increase investment inresearch institutes and shrimp fry producing companies to produce quality fryto supply for the delta.

The delta has 335,4000ha of fruits, accounting for36.3 percent of the country’s total fruit area.

The fruits are mostly mango, orange, longan,durian, dragon fruit and pineapple. However, the number of original ortet treesto produce seedlings in the delta is still small and has not met the deltademand.

The ministry has assigned the SouthernHorticultural Research Institute to develop breeds of the delta’s main fruitsthat have high yield and quality, are resistant to main pests and suitable forgrowing in different ecological conditions.

The ministry has targeted that the rate ofcertified rice seeds used for cultivation in the delta will account for up 75percent of the delta’s total rice seeds in 2020, 90 percent in 2025 and 100percent in 2030.

Most provinces in the delta, the country’s ricegranary, are replacing low quality rice varieties with new rice varieties.

Though the delta has rice varieties that areresistant to water with a low salinity rate, it does not have rice that isresistant to water with a salinity of more than 0.5 percent and can be grownefficiently.-VNS/VNA