Pangasius farming establishments will be granted identification codes by 2025

Mr. Huynh Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee said: The province has recently approved the Project on restructuring the agricultural sector of Dong Thap province towards 2025, as well as issued a plan to develop the province's pangasius industry. The goal of developing a sustainable and modern pangasius industry is based on the application of scientific and technological advances in production and management to improve productivity, quality, efficiency, environmental protection and adaptation to climate change.

The province aims to create a large volume of products and goods with high value, meeting the requirements of quality and food safety set forth by both the domestic and international markets. Dong Thap will strive to have 100% of its pangasius farming establishments will be granted a digital identification code according to regulations, and all of the commercial pangasius farming establishments will be granted a certificate of production eligibility or sign a committment to produce safe food according to regulations. Namely, over 50% of the commercial pangasius farming establishments will be certified with GAP standards and 90% of the pangasius farming households will participate in production and consumption linkages.

In an effort to improve the quality of pangasius fingerlings, Dong Thap sets a goal of achieving at least 75% of the commercial pangasius fingerling to be of high quality, as well as requiring that at least 60% of the pangasius breeding establishments use genetically improved fingerlings. The pangasius farming environment will be closely monitored with the goal of maintaining regulated wastewater treatment system, sludge on 60% of the farming area; All of the water supply on the main river will be monitored regularly according to the regulations.

According to Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has over 2,000 hectares of pangasius farming area every year, accounting for over 33% of the province's farming area and nearly 35% of province's pangasius production; as well as providing 60% of the fingerlings for the entire province. Dong Thap province houses 76 fish breeding establishments and 1,104 pangasius farming establishments (on an area of 950 hectares). Dong Thap annually supplies 20 billion pangasius juveniles and approximately 1.3 billion pangasius fingerlings, which is sufficient to meet the demand of fingerlings for commercial farming in the province as well as several neighboring provinces.

Regarding solutions to overcome difficulties in pangasius production in Dong Thap , Mr. Huynh Tat Dat, Deputy Director of Dong Thap Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Dong Thap is currently restructuring the pangasius industry, with special focus on environmental monitoring of aquaculture water, digital transformation in the management and administration of the pangasius industry in terms of planning management, identification code, production and market information, farming environment suitable for climate change adaptation and sustainable development.

Furthermore, the province will continue to implement the project of linking production of high quality 3-level pangasius fingerlings, encouraging fingerling production establishments and small commercial farming establishments to form associations, cooperative groups and cooperatives with the goal of producing uniformed products in large quantities.

Businesses in Dong Thap province have expanded the export market of pangasius to 134 countries around the world. As a result, the market for pangasius products is currently extremely diverse, from low-demand markets such as the Europe Asia - Middle East region and China to more advanced markets such as Europe and the United States. In addition, the domestic market has also received special attention and promotion.

Vinh Hoan Joint Stock Company introduced nearly 20 products processed from pangasius and basa in 2020 with the aim to serve the domestic market including: breaded basa, pork loaf, tartar sauce, spicy chabokki, seasoned butterfly cut basa, etc. These are highly convenient and nutritious products, with high quality to serve domestic consumers.

At a recent pangasius workshop held in Dong Thap, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that pangasius export output in 2022 will exceed the record high of 2.26 billion USD, the export rate will increase by 80%. This is an export sector with a value exceeding one billion USD to compensate for other export sectors.