Organic Cat Fish-Mekong Organics-Rice Farmers shake hands for sustainable organic industry development in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Organic Tra Fish (pangasius) producers shake hand with the local organic rice growers through the connection of Mekong Organics to improve the added values of organic rice by products (rice bran and broken rice).
Vietnam is the top catfish (pangasius) fillet exporter in the world. However, the organic catfish (pangasius) farming and processing industry is quite unique in Asia. In the Mekong Delta, this emerging business was developed by a German Company (Binca Group), based in HCM City, with the organic pangasius farming area (less than 10 ha) in the Tiger Island, the Long Xuyen City, of An Giang province, the capital of catfish fillet processing industry in Vietnam. Binca has initiated this sustainable aquaculture farming practice over 20 years, certified by Naturland, and exported to the Switzerland market.
Operated by Mr Antoine Bui, a French-Vietnamese manager, is interested in exploring the certified organic feed (broken rice and brane) suppliers in the Mekong Delta where he sees many small scale farmers are growing rice with low income. While importing over hundred tons of broken rice and rice bran from China to feed the certified organic catfish, Bina wishes to shift in buying the organic feeds, produced by farmers in the Mekong Delta.
Through the webinar of organic aquaculture certification and market hosted by Mekong Organics’ Australia-Vietnam organic partnership project in August 2021, Bina knew the work of Mekong Organics, the one to work closely with the small farmers in the Mekong Delta. The tie between Binca and Mekong Organics developed naturally after this event. Through the formal communication between Mr Antoine Bui and Dr Van Kien Nguyen (Director of Mekong Organics), the trust is built, the mission is matched, then the tie is developed to support the small scale organic farmers in the Mekong Delta.
Consequently, the first event is warmly hosted today (5 Oct 2021) by three pillars (Binca-Mekong Organics-Tan Dat Organic Rice Cooperative) – the real connection is made. We discussed the missions of each partner, the demands of Binca and the supply capacity of Tan Dat, and the role of Mekong Organics. We had a productive event for 1 hr with key achievements. The first impression of the three pillars is created. We all had happy faces to promise moving to the next stage: Binca will visit Tan Dat Cooperative when Mr Antoine Bui can travel from HCM City to Vinh Long. We wish to see this business open the doors for both local big industry “rice and catfish” working together in their homeland, the Mekong Delta.
Photo: The 1st meeting between organic catfish producer-Mekong Organics-rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, on 5 Oct 2021.
The August event is at this link: https://mekongorganics.com/webinar-organic-agriculture-aquaculture-certification-and-market/