Dong Thap (VNA) – Some 270 farmer households in the Mekong Deltaprovinces of Dong Thap and Tien Giang will receive support to improve theirmango supply chain’s competitiveness under the Australia Centre forInternational Agricultural Research (ACIAR)’s project launched in Cao Lanhcity, Dong Thap province on September 19.

According to Professor Robin Robert, director of ACIAR project, mango is amongadvantageous products of Vietnam. However, technology, cultivation knowledge,agricultural chemical practices, export market access and participation in thevalue chain maintain challenges to local farmers.

Thus, the project will focus on cultivating techniques, preservation, marketdevelopment, and creation of added value for local mangos through processing,he said, adding that it is designed to create more jobs and help mango growersincrease incomes by forming linkages between farmers and enterprises.

Speaking at the event, Le Van Duc, deputy head of the Department of CropProduction under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said thatafter years of cooperation between Vietnamese and Australian agencies, the “Improvingsmallholder farmer incomes through strategic market development in mango supplychains in southern Vietnam” project was approved in July 2018, and it will becarried out in three and a half years.

The ministry will make evaluation on the project’s mid-term report and provide theGovernment with consultancy on support policy for the project, he added.

Mango is among key plants of the Mekong Delta region. The country is currentlyhome to 85,000 hectares of mango, 55 percent of which are grown in the MekongDelta localities. Dong Thap takes lead in mango cultivation area with 9,200hectares, and ranks second in terms of production with 95,000 tonnes per year.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Hung said that mangois one of the five main products in the local agricultural shakeup master planuntil 2020 with vision to 2030.

The province has invested heavily in technical infrastructure, advancedtechnologies, good agricultural practices (GAP), post-harvest technologies, andBlockchain application to develop local mangos.

However, experts pointed out that connection between production and consumptionhas not been paid due attention. In addition, the mango sector is facingconsiderable losses and high logistic costs.-VNA