Agriculture and fishing
Govt drawing up aquaculture standards with EU, German help
The Department of Fisheries will finalise guidelines for good aquaculture practices (GAqP) by 2020 to ensure the safety of the country’s fishery products and make them more competitive in foreign markets, a senior official said. U Myint Zin Htoo, deputy director general of the department, said ...
Myat Moe Aung
Trump’s GSP seafood cut gives Thailand 2020 GDP an early whack
The struggling Thailand economy received an unexpected whack for the year ahead yesterday (Oct 26) when US President Donald Trump suspended $1.3 billion worth of duty-free trade for Thai items, including seafood, under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. President Trump is reported to have ...
John Le Fevre
Land policies restrain Vietnam’s agricultural development
Scattered, small-sized land lots hamper farmers and stop companies from investing in agriculture, while barriers set by land accumulation policies also marginalise farmers and hinder the development of Vietnam’s agriculture. These warnings were voiced by experts at the Vietnam Autumn Agricultural Forum 2019 – the largest ...
Despite pressure from domestic fishing groups, Thailand pledges to continue reforms on IUU fishing, forced labor
Thailand Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan has confirmed his country will continue to reform its seafood industry, despite mounting pressure from domestic fishing groups. Wongsuwan made the statement in an 18 October meeting with Environmental Justice Foundation Executive Director Steve Trent, according to EJF. Keep reading ...
Toan Dao
Farmers in Mekong delta earn more thanks to agricultural restructuring
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday announced farmers in the Mekong delta have earned more thanks to agricultural restructuring. According to the Ministry, in 2019, farmers in the Mekong delta have switched 77,885 hectares of low yield rice area into growing other crops with ...
Nguyen Thanh
Chinese-owned banana plantations expand in Laos despite lingering environmental and health concerns
In 2017, the Lao government ordered the closure of the country’s Chinese-owned banana farms following reports of pollution and workers falling ill after being exposed to dangerous chemicals. Firms already operating in the country were allowed to stay open until their contracts expired. The ban prohibited ...
Oliver Ward
Mekong Coffee Growers Struggle with Drought and a Warming Climate
In villages around the city of Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnamese farmers wait for the monsoon that normally arrives in April or May. “The fruits look ripe outside, but the bean is crispy and small because there was not enough rain,” says 28-year-old Y Bel Eban from Krong village, ...
Karoline Kan
Govt asks Norwegian vessel to continue marine research
Myanmar has asked the Norwegian research vessel RV Dr. Fridtjof Nansen to continue its research on the country’s seabed and ecosystem, the Department of Fisheries said. The vessel, which was named after a famous Norwegian explorer, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has visited the country ...
Myat Moe Aung
Thailand puts 24 provinces on alert in swine fever watch
Thailand has designated 24 provinces as “surveillance areas” for African swine fever and ordered strict animal controls in hopes of preventing an outbreak of the deadly disease that has hit its neighbours, an agriculture official said on Friday. Thailand has been on high alert since the ...
Mekong Delta agriculture adapts to climate change
The Mekong Delta has restructured agriculture towards climate-change adaptation and market demand by establishing specialised farming areas for its key agricultural products, and by growing other crops on ineffective rice fields or rotating rice with other crops on the same field. The delta, the country’s largest rice, seafood ...
