Value of Mekong’s pangasius exports to climb

MARD has valued the Mekong Delta’s expected exports at $1.5 billion (€1.2 billion), which is an increase of nearly $160 million (€131.2 million) compared with 2009.

The area in the delta dedicated to pangasius farming is to increase by 2,440 hectares compared with last year, to a total of 8,600 hectares.

Pangasius farming is concentrated in the provinces of Dong Thap, An Giang, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, Hau Giang, Ben Tre, and Can Tho City.

MARD has urged the delta’s fisheries agencies to instruct farmers to only apply farming models with an yield of 140-250 tonnes per hectare per year in areas of more than 10 hectares to minimise environmental and water source pollution; at the same time, to tighten integration between farmers and processors via contracts to deal with the supply-demand imbalance that has prevailed for the last two years.

Mekong authorities are to invest in upgrading hatcheries to assure the supply of 2.5 billion fingerlings, as well as feed mills factories to provide 3 million tonnes of pangasius feed for farmers.

It has been projected that by 2020, the Mekong’s pangasius farming area will be around 13,000 hectares, creating an output of approximately 2 million tonnes and an export value of more than $2 billion (€1.6 billion).