From ineffective shrimp pond to 40ha farm
More than a decade ago, when exploited aquatic resources were increasingly scarce, many farmers in coastal areas of Soc Trang began to switch to brackish water farming. With its characteristics of adapting well to the environment, Zucchini is quickly considered a potential breeding object.
Mr. Vo Dien Trung Dung, a farmer in Lieu Tu commune (Tran De district, Soc Trang province) is one of the pioneers in introducing snakehead fish into production. In 2010, he began renovating 1.5 hectares of ineffective shrimp ponds to test fish farming. The fish variety is taken from hospitals and schools in Khanh Hoa and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces. At that time, the output was only 50-70 tons/year, but he was still determined to pursue it.
"The market is still new, so I raise less, work and study at the same time. After that, seeing a good market, I boldly expanded the scale, completely stopping shrimp farming to focus all my efforts on snakehead fish. Since 2019, I have invested in developing the zinc fish farm in the direction of industrial aquaculture, expanding the area to 40 hectares with a circular water treatment system. The cost of infrastructure investment is about 1.5 billion VND/ha of water surface," Mr. Dung shared.
Mr. Dung said that depending on the investment level, farmers can choose to propagate, semi- intensive or intensive. However, it is necessary to control the water quality well, keep the salinity at 5-15‰ and use standard fish varieties, with a size of 10 cm or more. The breeding period usually lasts 8-12 months depending on the market.
Mr. Dung also noted that sustainable agriculture needs to be based on four pillars: complete infrastructure, human resources and good governance, application of science and technology and control of export product quality.
Soc Trang snakehead fish reaches out to the world
Currently, Mr. Dung's farm is one of the largest zinc fish farming facilities in the Mekong Delta, supplying more than 1,000 tons of phile fish each year to export markets such as Thailand, Australia, the US, Canada, and the Middle East. The domestic market also consumes about 2,000 tons per year, bringing in hundreds of billions of VND in revenue.
According to Mr. Dung, the snakehead fish market also experienced many fluctuations. If in 2022, the price ranged from 90,000 - 95,000 VND/kg, by 2023 it decreased to 75,000 - 85,000 VND/kg and by 2024, the further decline was only 60,000 - 65,000 VND/kg, lower than the production cost.
Mr. Dung said that currently, the price of fish in the pond is about 90,000 VND/kg if supplied to the processing factory for export. Meanwhile, domestic prices range from 95,000 - 100,000 VND/kg, applied to fish with an average weight of over 1kg/fish.
Explaining the reason for the increase in prices compared to before, Mr. Dung said that the supply is too small compared to demand. Because for a long time, farmers suffered losses and did not reproduced.
Mr. Dung said that the farm is currently cooperating with 5-10 other farming households in the area, and at the same time building a team of engineers to monitor the farming area, provide technical support and purchase standard products.
According to Mr. Dung, exported bids must go through a strict inspection process, quality control is also a key factor to help Soc Trang bids compete with other countries.
"Zinc fish prices are still affected by production costs and market fluctuations. Therefore, building a close chain of links between farmers, processing enterprises and exporters is a prerequisite for sustainable development, said Mr. Dung.
