Hi-tech appliance in pangasius farming to overcome difficulties

An Giang is one of the biggest pangasius producers in the Mekong Delta. Prices of pangasius are declining, resulting in a plan of sustainable agriculture development. 

Trần Anh Thư, Chairman of An Giang People’s Committee said that the pangasius sector has faced multiple challenges since late 2019, making farmers suffer from serious loss. Prices of commercial pangasius size 0.8-1kg are ranging between 18,200 and 18,500 dong/kg and size over 1kg is at 17,800-18,000 dong/kg. Farmers continue to suffer from loss of 4,000-5,000 dong/kg with this price.

He shared that the province was carrying out a production chain of high value pangasius broodstock to recover the pangasius sector. In particular, these pangasius are produced by units ranked in three levels. The first level is the Research Institute of Aquaculture 2 that has provided 12,320 pangasius broodstocks to replace around 30% of the existing pangasius broodstock in the province. The second one is the An Giang Seafood Livestock Center and some other cooperated facilities that have provided 26,300 pangasius broodstocks, accounting for 64% of the province’s pangasius broodstocks and are able to supply 6.8 billion fingerlings per year. These units have been granted certificates of qualified seafood nurseries in accordance with the Decree no.26/2019/ND-CP by the Government.

The third level involves pangasius nursery groups with 54 members owning 251 ha of nursing surface water (accounting for 43% of the province’s total nursing area) and providing 700-800 million pangasius broodstocks per year. They work with the Provincial Seafood Association to guide members to follow conditions of seafood nursery, registering for examination and certification of qualified nurseries. As a result, nine of eleven facilities owning 34 ha have been granted certificates.

Four companies have agreed to invest into a centralized nursing area applying high technologies and participated in the high quality pangasius project. They are Viet-Uc (104 ha), Nam Viet One Member Ltd, Co (600 ha including 150 ha in Châu Phú district), Vĩnh Hoàn (48.3 ha) and Lộc Kim Chi Development Ltd., Co (350 ha). The project is being implemented and a production plan in 2020 has been adopted, contributing to raise the quality of pangasius broodstocks in the future.