The largest pangasius farming provinces in the Mekong Delta are boosting production in an effort to avoid the disruption of raw material for exportation in 2022.
Trần Đình Luân, General Director of the Directorate of Fisheries said that the country has about 96 pangasius processing facilities and 2,289 nursery centers, producing about 25 billion fingerlings and 3.1 fries, accounting for 62% of the same period last year.
Thus, the number of pangasius stocked in 2021 reduced as compared to 2020. Should there be a lack of raw material if the country does not speed up the stocking and farming of pangasius to provide for processing and exportation in quarter I of 2022.
So as to assure the resources of raw material for processing and exportation, the pangasius sector is planning to use an extra 5,200 ha of land for stocking, produce more than 1.7 million tons of commercial pangasius, and reach over USD 1.6 billion of export volume.
“The Directorate of Fisheries is boosting the production organization to provide enough fries for stocking in December 2021 and early months of 2022, and speeding up the stocking to provide enough raw material for processing in 2022. We need about 200 million fries for a total farming area of 330ha in December 2021”, said General Director Trần Đình Luân.
Today, Cần Thơ, An Giang and Đồng Tháp are the largest farming areas in the Mekong Delta, accounting for over 75% of the total output of pangasius produced by the whole country. The pangasius sector has well controlled the raw material resources in the direction of sustainable production upon the value chain.
According to Nguyễn Sĩ Lâm, Director of the An Giang provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has nine pangasius breeding facilities with a total of 41,823 broodstocks, possibly providing 12 billion of fish fries per year. Đồng Tháp sets a target of spending 2,150ha of land on rearing pangasius in 2022 (up 9.1% from 2021), producing around 480,000 tons (up 4% from 2021).
According to the Directorate of Fisheries, in July, August, and September of 2021, the production, processing and exporting of pangasius were disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The total output of farmed seafood is estimated to reach 4.75 million ton in 2021, up 4.17% from last year. The output of pangasius is estimated to reach about 1.5 million tons, equal to 100% as compared to the same period last year. The export volume of pangasius is estimated to reach USD 1.5 billion irregardless of the disruption of production and processing in July, August, and September due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Trần Đình Luân shared.
In his opinion, what matters the most for the pangasius sector to achieve the growth after the social distancing scheme are preparation for raw material and human resources, organized production plan, and smooth transportation.
After the Resolution no.128/NQ-CP by the Government, most of the production activities in processing factories have been restored, facilitating the stocking and achievement of the target. As of November 15, 2021, the export volume of pangasius has reached USD 1.3 billion, up 1.3% as compared to the same period last year.
VFM
