Ambassador: New Zealand can help Mekong Delta with hi-tech farming

New Zealand, which exports 80 percent of its agricultural products, is willing to transfer its advanced farming technologies and machinery to the Mekong Delta, New Zealand Ambassador Haike Manning said in a recent trip to the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho. 

Talking to Vietnam News Agency reporters during the trip, the ambassador spoke highly of Mekong Delta’s potential for agricultural development, adding that the region must make breakthrough steps in mechanisation and quality control in order to adapt to globalisation and cope with fierce competition on the world market. 

He recommended that the government uses its coordinating role and financial assistance policy to help local farmers buy machinery and invest in modern processing technology, while farmers should join hand to improve their collective capacity. 

The ambassador reviewed several effective agricultural projects funded by New Zealand in the Mekong Delta, including a US$4.1 million scheme on cultivating dragon fruit in Tien Giang province.


He revealed that another project will be rolled out in the near future in Can Tho City to help local farmers adopt a new pig-rearing model. 

Looking back at the recent drought and salt water intrusion in the Mekong Delta, Ambassador Haike Manning said such natural disasters will come again in the future, so the key solution is to help the region find suitable plants and animals as well as farming and husbandry techniques in order to cope with the impacts of climate change. 

New Zealand has been providing 4.13 million USD in emergency aid since 2012 to Ben Tre province to help local residents, particularly coastal communities and low-income groups, to improve their capacity to cope with climate change through changing their cultivation and husbandry habits. 

Farmers are taught how to plant short-term and long-term crops alternately and raise animals on small scale to divide risks while ensuring regular income from different sources instead of only one. 

According to the ambassador, New Zealand is also willing to share with Mekong Delta experiences in developing a system to ensure food safety and a modern distribution network.-
Mời quý độc giả theo dõi VOV.VN trên

Related

OVs connect local companies with New Zealand partners
OVs connect local companies with New Zealand partners

VOV.VN - Local start-ups and small companies interested in entering the New Zealand market now can grasp onto the helping hands of Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) business professionals living and working in the south-west pacific island nation.

OVs connect local companies with New Zealand partners

OVs connect local companies with New Zealand partners

VOV.VN - Local start-ups and small companies interested in entering the New Zealand market now can grasp onto the helping hands of Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) business professionals living and working in the south-west pacific island nation.

Deputy PM meets Norwegian, New Zealand, Canadian FMs
Deputy PM meets Norwegian, New Zealand, Canadian FMs

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met his counterparts of Norway, New Zealand and Canada on July 26 – the final day of the 49th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-49) and related meetings in Vientiane, Laos. 

Deputy PM meets Norwegian, New Zealand, Canadian FMs

Deputy PM meets Norwegian, New Zealand, Canadian FMs

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met his counterparts of Norway, New Zealand and Canada on July 26 – the final day of the 49th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-49) and related meetings in Vientiane, Laos. 

New Zealand funded vegetable project benefits Binh Dinh
New Zealand funded vegetable project benefits Binh Dinh

A New Zealand funded project to produce safe vegetables is underway in an area of nearly 4,000 hectares covering four districts in the central province of Binh Dinh. 

New Zealand funded vegetable project benefits Binh Dinh

New Zealand funded vegetable project benefits Binh Dinh

A New Zealand funded project to produce safe vegetables is underway in an area of nearly 4,000 hectares covering four districts in the central province of Binh Dinh.