His invention has overcome environmental pollution, controlled water sources, feed, diseases, and bacterial infections from traditional industrial shrimp farming in underground ponds and lakes, making Vietnam one of the world's leading shrimp exporting countries.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Khoi stands beside an above-ground shrimp pond.
Find a way out for the shrimp.
Born and raised in Ward 5, Ca Mau Province, after graduating from high school, Nguyen Viet Khoi enrolled in the College of Technical Education, specializing in industrial electrical engineering. Upon graduation, he worked at Tan Phu Shrimp Import-Export Company under the Finance Department of Minh Hai Provincial Party Committee, and later at NIGICO Company located in Gia Rai (formerly Bac Lieu Province).
In 2008, while working at the company, Mr. Khoi was assigned to the whiteleg shrimp farming area of NIGICO in Vinh Thinh commune ( Bac Lieu province). There, he was assigned the task of managing the electrical systems in the industrial shrimp farms. Witnessing the mass death of shrimp in the company's ponds due to bacterial infection, despite spending a considerable amount of money on antibacterial drugs, he was unable to save dozens of shrimp ponds covering an area of 297 hectares.
How to save the shrimp farming industry from the prolonged shrimp mortality crisis? This question grew in his mind for a long time, but he had almost no answer as to where to begin. Coincidentally, while renovating an underground pond and treating it with chemicals to disinfect it at a depth of nearly one meter, a thought suddenly crossed his mind: "Industrial shrimp farming in underground ponds suffers from seepage and bacterial contamination. Why not design above-ground tanks using some material to hold water for safer shrimp farming, avoiding contamination and preventing the spread of diseases that cause prolonged shrimp mortality?"
With this thought in mind, upon returning home, he immediately jotted down in his notebook the ideas he had long yearned for, so that when he had time, he could design the framework on paper for the floating pond structure and share it with friends and colleagues for further refinement.
Mr. Khoi demonstrated how to inspect shrimp raised using high-tech methods.
After days of meticulously designing the floating pond on paper, and with the sincere contributions of friends and colleagues, Mr. Khoi proceeded to purchase tools and equipment to install the floating pond using a modular frame structure assembled from tray-like modules to form a circular frame. Each module consists of: horizontal steel pipe bars bent to the appropriate curvature depending on the diameter of the pond, and vertical steel pipe bars of the same length as the pond's height, connected by welding to the horizontal bars so that the distance between the vertical bars is between 10-20cm and between the vertical bars is between 50-60cm.
Additionally, an L-shaped steel bar, the same length as the pond's height, is created at each end of the modular panel structure. One edge of this L-shaped bar is welded to the horizontal bars, while the other edge has drilled holes for bolts connecting the modular panels together. An inner membrane made of waterproof and load-bearing material is laid to completely cover the inside of the frame structure and connected to the top edge of the frame structure to form the pond for water storage. An outer membrane made of waterproof material covers the outside of the frame structure, providing protection and creating an insulating air cushion.
According to the design, above-ground aquaculture ponds are ponds that do not require digging or constructing, and the water can be easily changed and reused when the pond is moved to a new location.
Starting a business with unemployment funds.
At the end of 2011, GINICO suffered losses and had to dissolve due to a lack of financial capacity for reproduction. Many employees and workers had to leave the company to seek new ventures and make a living. Among them, Mr. Khoi was also forced to quit after many years of working for the company. With a small amount of capital saved from his years of work and the support of family members, Mr. Khoi opened a shop named Khoi Nguyen in Gia Rai to trade in supplies and equipment for aquaculture, serving shrimp farmers in the area.
Having a stable place to live and work, in 2015 Mr. Khoi continued to pursue his idea of designing floating ponds of 500m2 and 1,000m2 for experimental shrimp farming and market sales. At that time, his family members discouraged him, advising him against investing in floating ponds for shrimp farming because the effectiveness was unknown, and the initial investment in equipment and installation cost hundreds of millions of VND per pond.
So Nguyen Viet Khoi could only encourage his family and relatives to support his invention. "Only by daring to do it can you know the results and effectiveness. If it fails, I'll use my own labor to pay off the debt," he shared.
Initially, his family tried to dissuade him because he was determined to pursue his dream, but they eventually accepted his decision. After designing and installing the tanks, he started raising shrimp for the first time. After three months of raising shrimp in the floating tanks, the shrimp grew very quickly because he could control the supply of clean water, reducing feed and medication costs.
According to him, inside the floating tanks, he designed a complete water filtration system and a wastewater and excess feed disposal system that is almost entirely automated and can be monitored at all stages, achieving unexpected results, yet the cost for each floating tank with an area of 1,000 m2 is only over 200 million VND.
Patent for aquaculture ponds.
To establish a scientific basis and gain recognition from relevant authorities for his invention, in 2017, he collaborated with Bac Lieu University to conduct a research project on super-intensive whiteleg shrimp farming using biological preparations in HDPE (high-density polyethylene) aquaculture ponds. 1mm thick HDPE ponds were arranged to completely cover the inside of the frame structure and connected to the top edge of the frame structure, forming a pond to hold water.
By July 2018, the project had been completed in nine months, with three successful farming cycles yielding high-quality results. Mr. Khoi was recognized by the university's scientific council and the Intellectual Property Office, receiving a patent for the first floating pond solution in Vietnam. Word spread, and many corporations, companies, and shrimp farmers from across the country visited Mr. Khoi's facility to observe his high-tech shrimp farming model and place orders for floating ponds for land-based shrimp farming.
In a short period of time, in provinces and cities such as Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Ninh Thuan, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh, he designed and installed over 20 shrimp farming tanks in each province. After assembling the floating shrimp farming tanks, most farmers achieved good results in shrimp production, especially with significantly reduced shrimp mortality compared to traditional industrial shrimp farming in earthen ponds and lined with plastic sheeting.
Having achieved success in inventing floating shrimp farming technology, in 2017 Mr. Khoi boldly upgraded his Khoi Nguyen store into Khoi Nguyen Production, Service and Trading Company Limited. From 2017 to 2019, Khoi Nguyen Company specialized in producing and transferring over 5,000 ponds of various sizes, from small ones with an area of 5,000m2 to large ones with an area of 2,600m2, to companies located in the area such as Minh Phu Group and Viet Uc Group, each installing 1,000 ponds.
Mr. Khoi stated that the high-tech shrimp farming area of Khoi Nguyen Company currently generates an average annual revenue of over 10 billion VND, creating jobs for 20 workers with incomes ranging from 8 to 12 million VND per month. Khoi Nguyen is expanding and developing farming areas in Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, and Ca Mau provinces, each area ranging from 20 to 80 hectares. This is one of the first scientific and technological aquaculture companies in Ca Mau province and the entire country.
Shrimp Doctor Besides installing floating tanks for shrimp farmers, Mr. Nguyen Viet Khoi is also a reputable shrimp doctor throughout the Mekong Delta provinces. When asked why he studied electrical engineering but became a shrimp doctor, Mr. Khoi shared: "This is a job learned on the job; the electrical engineering field has nothing to do with caring for farmed shrimp. For decades, after graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, I only worked in shrimp farming environments at various companies, so I understand the habits and diseases of shrimp, commonly caused by water sources, environment, weather, as well as bacterial infections, liver disease, white spot disease, red body disease, etc." At my family's company, every time the shrimp get sick, I stay up all night dealing with the disease. From practical experience, whenever I visit a farmer's shrimp pond, I can immediately recognize the symptoms and know how to treat them to ensure the shrimp grow quickly and healthily. Many inexperienced shrimp farmers buy medicine indiscriminately when they see sick shrimp without knowing the quality or effectiveness of the medicine. Because of this lack of knowledge, the cost of medication is very high, leading to low profits. "Being a shrimp doctor helps farmers solve this cost problem, which is very meaningful in social life. I don't treat shrimp diseases for money from farmers, but rather from companies selling aquatic animal medicine. This helps farmers reduce shrimp medication costs and helps companies sell the right specific medications for shrimp, so people keep calling me to ask for help saving their shrimp ponds." |
Vietnamese History
Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/doanh-nhan/cha-de-cua-ao-tom-tren-mat-dat-/20260216035918763
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