TRÀ VINH — Trà Vinh Province plans to expand breeding clams on more than 15,000ha of alluvial grounds along coastal areas, with priority given to poor households, Phạm Minh Truyền, director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.

Truyền said the provincial People’s Committee would also set up more co-operatives and co-operative groups in localities.

The Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography in the south-central province of Khánh Hòa will carry out a survey to evaluate 15,000ha of alluvial grounds in coastal areas for clam farming.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Trà Vinh has seven clam co-operatives and co-operative groups with 2,000 members. They breed clams on more than 3,500 hectares of alluvial grounds, with annual output of 4,000 tonnes.

Since the beginning of April, local clam breeders from clam co-operatives and co-operative groups have released more than 170 tonnes of clam seeds on about 180ha of water surface areas.

Of these, Thành Đạt and Ba Vinh clam co-operatives in Duyên Hải Town have released 101 tonnes of clam seeds on 101ha of water surface areas.

Around 73 tonnes of clam seeds have been released on 80ha of water surface areas by Tiến Thành Clam Co-operative and Long Hòa Co-operative Group in Châu Thành District.

Clam breeders earn an average profit of VNĐ50 million (US$2,135) per hectare each year.

Phạm Văn Trường, director of Tiến Thành Clam Co-operative, said local clam breeders have several advantages as the price of clam seeds is not high and there is no shortage of seeds.

The co-operative buys clam seeds at VNĐ15,000-22,000 ($0.64-0.94) per kilogramme, a decrease of VNĐ3,000-5,000 ($0.13-0.21) per kilogramme compared to previous crops. — VNS