After a long period of decline, the last two years have seen an increase in output of giant river prawns in the Mekong Delta. (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - After a long period ofdecline, the last two years have seen an increase in output of giant riverprawns in the Mekong Delta.
Giant river prawns are resilient to disease,easy to raise, and require little capital. They also offer high and stableprofitability and flexibility in how farmers can raise them.
Thoi Binh district is one of Ca Mau province’smain producers of prawn and rice. In 2017, the area for giant river prawnfarming increased by 4,000ha, raising the total area in the province to over12,000ha. Prawns are bred in the dry season and rice in the rainy season on thesame land as part of a crop-rotation model.
The shrimp-rice rotation model has been very effective,according to the district’s Devision of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The giant river prawns are consistently pricedat more than 100,000 VND (4.4 USD) per kilo, and each hectare of farmlandbrings at least over 50 million VND.
Kien Giang province has also seen a spike ingiant river prawn output, with over 11,500ha of land and output of 8,400 tonnesin 2017, which is 113 percent higher than originally planned.
Vinh Thuan district’s giant river prawn arepriced 30,000 VND per kilo higher than average because they are farmed withonly organic materials.
A few years ago, water pollution, drought,salinity and the effects of climate change adversely affected shrimp farming inthe Mekong Delta. Some farmers incurred losses and the area for shrimp farmingshrunk.
Dong Thap province, for example, had to reduceits shrimp farmland from more than 1,130ha to nearly 250ha between 2013 and2017.
Provinces had to spend billionsof VND and research a variety of farming methods to save the giantriver prawn farming sector.
Recently, to revive giant river prawn farming,the National Agriculture Extension Centre (NAEC) has been working withprovinces in the Mekong Delta to promote crop rotation such as the shrimp-ricemodel.
The shrimp bred under this particular model areconsidered “clean” because farmers do not use chemicals. Also, the field soilis better and provides natural food for the shrimp.
Crop rotation models have brought 70-80 millionVND of profit per hectare on average per year, and offer great protectionagainst climate change and salt intrusion, according to Kim Van Tieu, deputydirector of NAEC.
While different models have increased quality,output and area for farmland, the supply of juvenile prawns is still limited.
Most supply comes from Thailand and China, sofarmers can do little to control the quality of supply, and the price isdetermined by traders.
According to Binh Thuan province’s Hung PhuJuvenile Fishery Company, the domestic supply of juvenile giant river prawnsonly makes up 10 percent of the country’s demand, while the rest must beimported.
In addition, the market for exporting giantriver prawns has not yet developed well.
The US imports 300 million USD worth of giantriver prawns every year, but refuses to buy from Vietnam because of the lack ofcompliance to its import standards. Germany and the Netherlands are interestedin importing the prawns, but they both require strict international food safetystandards.-VNS/VNA
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