Old farmer in Ben Tre earns tens of billions from high-tech shrimp farming

Success through education

On the afternoon of December 18, we went to Thanh Hai commune (Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province) to visit the high-tech shrimp farming model of Mr. Ba Sam (Le Van Sam, 66 years old), who has achieved great success and profit.

Mr. Le Van Sam said that after retiring in 2007, he experienced many difficulties and risks when raising shrimp using traditional methods. During that process, he visited and learned from high-tech shrimp farming models in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu.

Through his studies, he realized that shrimp farming in the direction of high-tech agriculture brings many benefits such as controlling the farming environment, managing diseases, and increasing harvest productivity compared to traditional farming. In early 2015, he decided to experiment with high-tech shrimp farming: "In the first crop, I achieved great success. From then on, I gradually switched to high-tech shrimp farming. Currently, I own 50 ponds with a total area of ​​nearly 50 hectares."

According to Mr. Sam, high-tech shrimp farming allows for two crops per year, with the remaining time spent on pond treatment. On average, after deducting investment costs, the profit is from 50,000 to 70,000 VND/kg of shrimp.

Mr. Sam added that he recently harvested 2 shrimp ponds with a yield of 134 tons, earning a profit of about 16 billion VND after deducting expenses. "After more than 10 years of pursuing a high-tech shrimp farming model, I have owned 50 hectares of land and just rebuilt a spacious house after the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr. Sam shared.

In addition, his farm has also received support from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province to build a farming area that meets ASC standards (strict international standards on environment, society, animal welfare and food safety). Thanks to meeting ASC standards, the shrimp price is 5,000 VND/kg higher than the market price, bringing in an average profit of 30 to 40 billion VND per year.

The old farmer's worries

"Currently, Ben Tre province has no enterprises investing in shrimp processing for export. I hope the government will pay attention to calling for enterprises to invest in seafood processing factories, especially shrimp, right in Ben Tre province. In addition, infrastructure such as electricity, transportation, irrigation... do not meet development needs, and are in great need of investment to serve high-tech shrimp farming areas," said Mr. Sam.

Mr. Nguyen Van Buoi - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province - said: Mr. Sam is one of the first successful examples of high-tech shrimp farming in Ben Tre province through training sessions chaired by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province to guide techniques and processes... Mr. Sam's success has contributed to spreading this model to households, while affirming the high efficiency of the model. Mr. Sam also often learns from experience, changes his production mindset, does not follow the old traditional way but applies scientific advances to high-tech shrimp farming... From this success, the Department will replicate the model to develop high-tech shrimp farming areas in the area.

According to Mr. Buoi, currently, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province has been supporting high-tech shrimp farmers to achieve ASC certification, of which Mr. Sam has been granted this certificate.

Mr. Buoi also said that in the coming time, the Department will coordinate with related units to implement projects to build electricity, road and irrigation infrastructure for high-tech shrimp farming areas in Ba Tri, Thanh Phu and Binh Dai. At the same time, advise the Provincial People's Committee to call for businesses to invest in Phu Thuan Industrial Park (Binh Dai district) to process seafood, especially commercial shrimp for export.