Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap have switched to growing short-term crops and perennial trees and breeding aquatic species on nearly 5,000ha of paddies. The crops include vegetables, watermelon, corn, and lotus and the trees include mango, jackfruit, lime, and orange.
Mango, jackfruit, longan, and lime offer them a profit of 50-200 million VND (2,000-8,200 USD) per hectare per year, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Nguyen Van Long in Thanh Binh district’s Tan My commune has turned a one-hectare rice field into an orchard and grows guava, milk apple, along with some types of vegetables like bitter melon, gourds and okra. He earns more than 100 million VND (4,100 USD) a year, he said.
The restructuring has followed the province’s agricultural zoning plans, market demand, water availability, and weather conditions, according to the department. The province has created concentrated farming areas by pooling lands and linkages between various stakeholders to develop agricultural value chains.
Read more at vietnamplus.vn