The plan aims to have 2,000-2,500 households growing vegetables in areas covering a total land mass of 750ha.
The households will be provided with farming techniques according toVietnamese Good Agriculture Practice standards (VietGAP), as well aspost-harvest preservation techniques.
Under the plan, the city will also develop 500ha for fruit cultivation that will also serve as eco-tourism sites.
By 2020, the city will also have areas specialising in growing flowersand ornamental trees in Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang and Phong Diendistricts.
Under the plan, the city will also set up specialisedfarms for breeding fish, including 24ha for producing tra fish friesand 120ha for breeding tra fish.
The plan is expected to costmore than 833 billion VND (39.7 million USD). Of the figure, 53.6billion VND will be from the city's budget and the rest, from investors.
The plan will develop infrastructure, and build and upgrade irrigation systems in areas of specialised agriculture.
It is hoped that the plan will encourage enterprises to enter intocontracts with farmers, in which the farmers produce specifically forthe enterprises, thereby decreasing their risk and improving quality andvalue.
It will also provide a chance for farmers to develop their tourism service skills when tourists visit the fruit orchards.
Nguyen Hong Dieu, Director of the Can Tho Agriculture ExtensionCentre, said the centre will work with relevant agencies to implementthe plan and local agriculture officials will provide training onadvanced farming techniques for local farmers.
The city now hasseveral specialised agricultural fields, including rice, vegetable andfruits. Of these, rice cultivation in the region currently stands at235,370ha, up 16,780ha against 2008.
The city has developed manylarge-scale rice fields. This has helped strengthen cooperation amongfarmers, enterprises, scientists and the Government. The new model forlarge-scale rice fields has improved income for farmers.-VNA