These days, in low-lying areas of Can Tho city such as My Tu, My Phuoc, Long Hung, Nga Nam ward, My Quoi ward, floodwaters have risen, many rice fields are deeply flooded. Instead of sowing the Autumn-Winter crop, people choose to follow natural methods to surround the nets right in the fields to raise fish in the fields. This model is also known as braised fish farming.
For many years, after harvesting the Summer-Autumn rice crop, Mr. Dang Thanh Duoc in My Tu commune has been busy preparing nets and releasing fish into the fields to raise instead of making rice. This season, he raised about 30 hectares. Currently, the fish weigh about 1kg/fish, and are expected to be harvested in about a month.
"My Tu land is low, from June to November every year it is often deeply flooded. growing Autumn-Winter rice is a loss, and if I leave the land, it will be a waste, so I take advantage of the water to raise fish. This model is low in capital, just need to buy fish fry and nets. The fish eat moss in the fields naturally, which does not take much care," said Mr. Duoc.
Mr. Duoc said that the fish raised are mainly catfish and perch, in addition, he also lures freshwater fish such as snakehead fish, snakehead fish, catfish, etc. to increase output. On average, 1 kg of fish fry after 3 months can produce 20 kg of meat fish, with an output of about 700 - 800 kg/ha.
In My Tu commune (Can Tho city), Mr. Le Van Thuong has also maintained this model for 5 years. At the end of the Summer-Autumn crop, when the water began to rise, he wrapped nets around the fields to keep fish naturally and released additional varieties. At the same time, he combined raising ducks to increase his income.
"Living fish like this is very effective. I have been raising this crop for more than 2 months. There are many freshwater fish. When planting the Winter-Spring crop, the fish will be harvested. I earn over 40 million VND per crop," Mr. Thuong shared.
Mr. Nguyen Van Doi in My Tu commune (Can Tho city) said that this year's flood season, he raised about 10 hectares of fish right on the rice field. The fish have been released for more than 2 months, currently weighing about 1kg/fish. "This season, the water is deep, the banks are small, if we grow rice, we can easily lose everything, so many households have switched to fish farming. For the past 3 years, I have been implementing this model, the last crop earned nearly 100 million VND, after deducting costs, the profit is about 6 million VND/ha, said Mr. Doi.
According to Mr. Doi, after harvesting fish, traders come to buy them at home, so farmers are quite assured about the output.
Mr. Le Quoc Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of My Tu commune (Can Tho city) said that this year's fish crop in the whole commune has over 200 hectares. After many years of implementation, most farmers have earned a profit of 5 - 7 million VND/ha. "This model not only creates stable income during the off-season but also contributes to increasing soil fertility, reducing fertilizer costs for the next rice crop," Mr. Khoi informed.
