Assessment of land potential for fruit development in Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province

Abstract

The aim of this article is to determine the potential of land for fruit development in Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province, for the development of centralized production zones. Reports on agricultural production, socio-economic development and statistical yearbooks were collected. In addition, the study consulted 18 experts and 37 households directly engaging in agricultural production. An in-depth interview with agricultural managers was also conducted to determine the current status and collect the economic data on the fruit production models. In addition, the land potential for crops was estimated according to the land evaluation method of FAO (1976 and 2007). The results show that Chau Thanh is a purely agricultural district with typical crops such as coconuts, pomelos, rambutans, and durians. The soil, water, and climate characteristics enable us to identify seven physical adaptation zones, six economic adaptation zones, and seven mixed zones for the crops. On that basis, we build six agricultural production zones for Chau Thanh that are sustainable and adaptable to saline intrusion.