BÀ RỊA – VŨNG TÀU – Farmers in the southern province of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu are expanding their lands to either grow crops or breed livestock on a larger scale since incomes from farming are rising steadily.

Bùi Hữu Nghĩa’s farm in Châu Đức District’s Láng Lớn Commune now has more than 1,000 goats for producing meat and breeding.

With disease prevention measures in place and clean and airy sheds, the farm operates effectively, he said.

The farm fetches him an annual income of VNĐ1 billion (US$43,400), he said.

He used to grow pepper, but his trees were diseased and most died in 2017, and he switched to breeding goats.

Goats are easy to raise and can be sold after a short period of breeding, and so he has expanded his farm from the original 700 head to more than 1,000, he said.

Phạm Văn Phong in Xuyên Mộc District’s Hoà Hiệp Commune earns around VNĐ23 billion ($990,000) a year from his 50ha farm in which grows noni trees and breeds tilapia fish.

He established the farm by buying land in 2017.

He farms the tilapia on a total area of 10ha and harvests 300 tonnes a year, and exports it all to the US.

The noni trees are grown to organic standards and yield 350 tonnes of fruits a month.

In 2019 he built a 2,000sq.m plant in the farm to process the noni, and now produces dried fruits, juice, honey, and essential oil.

The farm began to export noni juice to South Korea last month.

Phong plans to tie up with local farmers to further expand noni cultivation.

Vũ Ngọc Đăng, deputy head of the province Sub-department of Rural Development, said the development fosters development of the agricultural processing sector.

But, the farm economy faces difficulties such as a shortage of land, he said.

Most localities in the province do not have additional lands for farming, and so most farmers have to pool small plots or rent lands, he said.

It plans to undertake activities to promote farm produce and offer financial and technological support for farming, and training for farmers, he added. – VNS