Venezuela will turn Apure state into the country’s important rice growing centre, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said while visiting a rice production project with help from Vietnam on Oct. 25.
The project at the technical production centre named Colonel Jose Francisco Farfan in Apure piloted the model of rice growing in combination with fish raising on an area of 100 hectares under a cooperation agreement between Vietnam and Venezuela . If the project goes well, the farming area will be expanded to 9,000 ha next year and 50,000 ha five years later.
Under the bilateral cooperation agreement, Vietnam will also help Venezuela in similar projects and transfer hybrid rice growing skills at three other farms in Apure, namely La Yaguita, El Cedral and El Frio.
The Venezuelan government plans to increase rice growing to ensure food security. The country’s rice output rose by 94 percent in the past decade./.