Floating-cage aquaculture off the An Thoi coast in Phu Quoc city. (Photo: VNA) If achieved, the figure will be in excess of the province’s targetfor the year, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
The province is increasing the breeding of bivalve molluscs inmudflats, and shrimp, fish, mud crab and other high-value species in coastalareas, mangrove forests and the sea.
The province Fisheries Sub-department, in-cooperation withlocalities in flood-prone areas, the Long Xuyen Quadrangle and the western bankof the Hau River, has instructed farmers to take advantage of the ongoing floodseason to breed freshwater fish and other aquatic species in rice fields,rivers and canals.
The province aims to harvest 6,700 tonnes of brackish water shrimpduring the rest of the year to meet its full-year target of 108,500 tonnes.
For this, the province has encouraged farmers to expand industrialand semi-industrial shrimp farming models, especially two-stage industrialfarming.
Under the two-stage model, multiple ponds are used for breedingshrimp and treating water. Shrimp fry is first bred in a nursery for a fewweeks before being transferred to the main ponds for intensive farming.
The main ponds have oxygenation equipment, anti-sunlight nets andplastic sheets covering their beds.
Farmers can get yields of 60 tonnes per hectare per crop under themodel and breed three to four crops a year. It is also environment-friendly.
The province’s Agriculture Extension Centre has stepped uptraining for farmers in the techniques used under the model in recent years.
Trinh Quanh Hoc of Hon Dat district’s Tho Son commune earns a highincome from breeding shrimp under the model.
He has two 300 sq.m nursery ponds and three 1,200 sq.m ponds forintensive breeding, and earned more than 880 million VND (36,200 USD) per croplast year after the Agriculture Extension Centre helped him to implement themodel.
The model involves high initial investment, but makes it easy tomanage diseases, food residues, water, and the environment, he said.
“Its yield and efficiency are higher than other industrial shrimpfarming models.”
Kien Giang, the country’s largest rice producer, has also expandedthe shrimp-rice farming model since it makes clean products that meet marketrequirements.
Under the model, farmers cultivate rice in the rainy season andbreed shrimp in the dry season in the same field.
This year the Fisheries Sub-department has instructed farmers tostrictly follow forecasts on weather, rains, storms, environment, and waterresources so that they can cope with possible disease outbreaks.
The province is this year farming aquatic species on more than293,160ha, including 142,425ha of brackish water shrimp, according to thedepartment.
It also has 3,696 floating cages in the sea for aquaculture. Ithas harvested more than 229,150 tonnes from aquaculture this year, up 9.8%year-on-year.
Authorities have tightened oversight of the quality of broodstock,especially shrimp, to prevent diseases, and encourage farmers to buy those withorigin traceability and inform them about diseases for prompt treatment.
The province has had few disease outbreaks in major shrimpbreeding areas this year because of good management and favourable weather,according to the department.
Farmers have earned high incomes from aquaculture this yearbecause of the high prices they get since seafood exports have increased, itsaid./.
VNA
