Proposing solutions to promote linkages in production and consumption of rice-shrimp production conversion areas along the West Coastal region of Mekong Delta

Assoc. Dr.Doan Doan Tuan, ME. Tran Viet Dung

Center for Participatory Irrigation Management

The impact of drought and saltwater intrusion has changed the farming practices of people in the Mekong River Delta (Mekong Delta) in general and the West Coastal region in particular. The impact has turned challenges into opportunities in the region’s agricultural production, shifting agricultural production from inefficient 2-rice farming to highly economical shrimp-rice cultivation. Shrimp cultivated in rice fields use mainly natural food, require low feed costs, sufer less diseases, being high quality, and the ecological environment is protected because rice uses waste products from shrimp farming.

                However, the development of the rice-shrimp system is facing challenges, due to the inadequate irrigation facilities to control drought and saltwater intrusion, poor road system to offer conditions for agricultural machines to operate; fragmented, small-scale agricultural production, lack of farmeres cooperation to form a suficient large production area, enterprises purchasing agricultural products difficult to access the State’s suppot are contrains to formation of effective agricultural production linkages

In order to support production, enhance production and product consumption linkages between farmers and farmers, between production households and enterprises, it is necessary to implement the completion of on-farm road system to create conditions for machines to work effectively, to invest in irrigation infrastructure ensuring proactive irrigation and drainage for shrimp-rice production, at the same time encourage farmers to cooperate in production on a large scale, in parallel with the thorough implementation of supportive policies, so that enterprises can access loans, support capital to ensure production linkage.

Attached link here 
Giải pháp LKSX-TTSP-9-9-Final