Tra Vinh (VNS/VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh plans toexpand breeding clams on more than 15,000ha of alluvial grounds along coastalareas, with priority given to poor households, Pham Minh Truyen, director ofthe province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.

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

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

Tra Vinh has seven clam co-operatives and co-operative groups with 2,000members. They breed clams on more than 3,500 hectares of alluvial grounds, withannual output of 4,000 tonnes.

Since the beginning of April, local clam breeders from clam co-operatives andco-operative groups have released more than 170 tonnes of clam seeds on about180ha of water surface areas.

Of these, Thanh Dat and Ba Vinh clam co-operatives in Duyen Hai town havereleased 101 tonnes of clam seeds on 101ha of water surface areas.

Around 73 tonnes of clam seeds have been released on 80ha of water surfaceareas by Tien Thanh Clam Co-operative and Long Hoa Co-operative Group in ChauThanh district.

Clam breeders earn an average profit of 50 million VND (2,135 USD) per hectareeach year.

Pham Van Truong, director of Tien Thanh Clam Co-operative, said local clambreeders have several advantages as the price of clam seeds is not high andthere is no shortage of seeds.

The co-operative buys clam seeds at 15,000-22,000 VND (0.64-0.94 USD) perkilogramme, a decrease of 3,000-5,000 VND (0.13-0.21 USD) per kilogrammecompared to previous crops./.