Profit 6 million VND/ha
Having just brought fish from the rice fields to the shore to sell to traders, Mr. Pham Van Doi in My Tu commune (My Tu district, Soc Trang province) excitedly said that he had only harvested the first batch but the yield was more than 5 tons of fish, with 2-3 more batches of net pulling expected to yield about 3 tons. This season his group had a big hit.
“We rented nearly 20 hectares of rice to raise fish. The estimated yield is 8 tons. This year, there was a lot of flood water and abundant food sources, so the fish grew quickly. Estimated income is nearly 100 million VND, after deducting expenses, the profit is about 6 million VND/ha,” said Mr. Doi.
Mr. Doi added that this year's fish prices are 2,000 - 3,500 VND/kg higher than the same period last year. Currently, traders buy bighead carp for 12,000 VND/kg, and common carp for 14,000 VND/kg. As for freshwater fish, the prices are quite high, snakehead fish for 100,000 VND/kg, perch for 60,000 - 80,000 VND/kg. After harvesting, all fish are purchased by units, so farmers do not need to worry about output.
Similarly, Mr. Dang Thanh Duoc's group in My Tu commune (My Tu district, Soc Trang province) also had a profit of 6 million VND/ha in this year's fish crop.
Mr. Duoc said: “My Tu land is low-lying, often flooded from June to November. If we grow autumn-winter rice, we will lose money, but if we leave the land empty, it will be a waste, so we release fish into the rice fields to raise. This model requires little investment, only costs money to buy fish fry and surrounding nets. The fish grow by eating algae available in the fields, and we don't need to take care of them.”
Mr. Duoc said that the fish commonly raised are bighead carp, common carp... People also lure wild perch, snakehead fish, catfish, and climbing perch... into the fields to increase yield when harvesting. On average, 1 kg of fingerlings will yield 20 kg of meat fish after 3 months of raising. Yield reaches 700 - 800 kg/ha.
Mr. Le Quoc Khoi - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of My Tu Commune (My Tu District, Soc Trang Province) - added that this year's fish crop, the whole commune has about 370 hectares. Of which, 18 households (40 hectares) were supported by the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) with fish fry and nets surrounding the fields, and farmers contributed 50% of the capital. According to the assessment, most farmers have a profit of 5-7 million VND/ha.
“This model not only brings stable income and creates jobs for workers during the off-season, but also helps increase soil fertility and reduce fertilizer costs for the next rice crop,” said Mr. Khoi.
Building a value chain for freshwater fish
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Soc Trang province, the whole province currently has over 160,000 hectares of rice production land in low-lying areas and over 10,000 hectares of rice-shrimp farming in brackish-fresh water areas.
In Nga Nam town, there are over 3,500 hectares of fish farming in rice fields during the flood season and fish farming combined with rice cultivation. The total annual output is estimated at 12,000 - 14,000 tons. The functional sector is creating conditions for businesses and production facilities to develop products processed from freshwater fish. Currently, the locality has 13 OCOP products meeting 3-star standards from freshwater fish.
The Department of Fisheries of Soc Trang province has drafted the project “Developing resources, building models and linking the value chain of freshwater fish in 4 lowland districts and towns of Soc Trang province”. The project is considered a driving force for lowland localities to better promote their potential and strengths, making freshwater fish farming an important contributor to the economic growth of Soc Trang province in the coming time.
