High efficiency
After more than 5 years of working in shrimp farming, Mr. Tran Khanh Luong in Trung Binh commune (Tran De district, Soc Trang province) has decided to convert 3 hectares of shrimp farming area to pineapple and snakehead fish farming. After 2 years of implementation, his family has earned an estimated profit of about 1 billion VND per year.
Mr. Luong shared: " Raising fish in shrimp ponds has many advantages, a better farming environment helps fish grow quickly, less risk of disease and lower investment costs than raising shrimp".
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Thai Viet in Trung Binh commune (Tran De district, Soc Trang province) has also converted nearly 7 hectares of shrimp pond area to raising beautiful pink fish and pineapple. In the past 4 years, the ponds have all achieved high yields. In the last crop, the family harvested 31 tons of fish, selling them for 74,000 VND/kg. Profit after deducting expenses is over 200 million VND.
Mr. Viet said: "I have been raising shrimp for nearly 20 years, but recently, the epidemic and unstable prices have caused me to suffer more losses. Therefore, I decided to switch to fish farming. switching to fish farming not only brings income but also helps reduce risks from unfavorable factors of shrimp farming".
Mr. Do Van Thua - Deputy Head of the Soc Trang Province Fisheries Sub-Department - said that the locality always identifies seafood as a spearhead industry in economic development, in which shrimp is the main target. However, the shrimp industry is facing many challenges in terms of epidemics, markets, and prices. In that situation, many households have taken advantage of settling ponds, ponds and some shrimp ponds affected by the epidemic to fish farming.
According to Mr. Thua, raising fish in shrimp ponds not only helps improve the bottom of the pond, preventing the source of diseases left behind by shrimp, but after a few fish farming cases, the pond can be reused for shrimp. In addition, it helps farmers have a source of income to reinvest in the next shrimp crop, contributing to stabilizing the main product of Soc Trang.
Be careful when expanding the area
Farmer Nguyen Thai Viet said that although the fish farming model in shrimp ponds brings many benefits, there are also potential risks, especially from the market. Fish prices can fluctuate strongly and without a sustainable consumption link, farmers will face difficulties, greatly affecting farmers' profits.
Mr. Do Van Thua - Deputy Head of the Soc Trang Province Fisheries Sub-Department - said that this conversion needs to have a clear orientation and reasonable planning, and should be implemented synchronously with solutions to connect product consumption and provide input materials such as seeds and feed for farmers. Specialized units need technical support to help farmers apply reasonable care procedures, ensuring quality products.
In addition, there needs to be a link between farmers and seafood purchasing and processing companies. This not only helps ensure stable output for products but also creates trust for people in production.
