Billionaire model in the time of climate change

Faced with the increasingly serious impacts of climate change, unstable shrimp prices, and complicated disease developments, some farmers in the province have sought to transform sustainable production. Two outstanding innovative models, bringing high economic efficiency, stand out: raising sea snails in Hiep Thanh ward and raising mud-free eels in composite tanks in Vinh My A commune.

• Raising eels without mud - Easy to care for, effective

Raising sea snails to replace shrimp

Mr. Dinh Vu Hai, Hiep Thanh Ward, was a pioneer in high-tech shrimp farming and has "seniority" in shrimp farming. However, due to unstable shrimp prices and constant disease outbreaks, Mr. Hai sought alternative models. After many unsuccessful attempts at farming other aquatic products..., he accidentally learned about the model of raising sea snails in the Central provinces.

Comrade Huynh Quoc Viet, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, visited the sea snail farming model of Mr. Dinh Vu Hai.

Seeing the high economic potential and the lack of local snail farmers, Mr. Hai researched and learned from experience. Although experts said that the climate and salinity conditions in Ca Mau were not suitable for snail farming, with determination, Mr. Hai researched and adjusted snail farming techniques to suit local characteristics.

He boldly spent 200 million VND to buy more than 3 million snails from reputable hatcheries, brought them back to his locality to try raising them and adjusted the salinity accordingly. After renovating the old shrimp pond, lining it with tarpaulin, pouring sand on the bottom of the pond and treating the salinity, he started a trial raising on an area of 6,000 m2.

In early 2023, seeing that the model was highly effective, Mr. Hai decided to expand the farming scale to more than 20 ponds, each pond is 1,000 m2 wide and releases 500,000 snail seeds. Commercial snails are sold to restaurants, domestic wholesale markets and for export, priced from 250-400 thousand VND/kg depending on size. From February to June every year, the price of snails is higher, about 300-500 thousand VND/kg. From this model, Mr. Hai earns a profit of more than 1 billion VND/year.

Harvesting snails at Mr. Dinh Vu Hai's household.

Mr. Hai shared: "Raising snails is not too hard. Feeding them only once a day with fresh food such as sea fish is both cost-saving and ensures the quality of the snail meat. Thanks to that, the snails grow well, have few diseases, have delicious, chewy and sweet meat, and are very popular in the market... After many years of raising, Mr. Hai has improved the color of the farmed snails to be beautiful, similar to the snails raised in the Central region. This is a new technical improvement in raising snails, especially in color and size, the largest is 20-30 snails/kg".

The success of Mr. Hai's snail farming model has opened up a new direction, thereby contributing to diversifying farming objects and increasing sustainable income for farmers in the province.

Raising eels without mud in composite tanks

Unlike traditional eel farming in earthen ponds, Mr. Le Van Hot, Xom Lon A hamlet, Vinh My A commune, chose a new direction with a mud-free eel farming model in composite tanks. With a total investment of more than 1 billion VND, he installed 50 tanks, each 4 m2, and raised about 2,000 fry.

According to Mr. Hot: "Raising eels without mud has many outstanding advantages, easy to control the water environment, reduce the risk of disease, save space and care. Every day, change the water 2-3 times with well water to ensure hygiene. In addition, Mr. Hot also regularly sorts eels by size to avoid loss."

Mr. Le Van Hot harvests commercial eels.

Regarding food, he uses earthworms mixed with pellets in the early stages, when the eels are large, feeding them entirely with pellets and supplementing digestive enzymes and vitamins. Thanks to careful care, the survival rate of the eels is over 90%. After 10-11 months of raising, the eels reach a weight of 4-5 fish/kg. Each crop, Mr. Hot harvests about 10 tons of eel meat. Previously, the price of eels was about 180-200 thousand VND/kg, now the price of commercial eels has dropped to 85-120 thousand VND/kg. After deducting expenses, Mr. Hot earns a profit of more than 1 billion VND/year. Mr. Hot is willing to share techniques and experiences with farmers in and outside the province when they come to learn about the model. However, the biggest difficulty is the scarcity of eel seeds, high prices and not enough to meet production needs.

Raising sea snails and raising eels without mud in composite tanks are two models that bring in quite high income, contributing to changing the mindset of agricultural production, towards sustainable, effective production and adaptation to climate change .

Minh Dat

Source: https://baocamau.vn/mo-hinh-bac-ty-giua-thoi-bien-doi-khi-hau-a120944.html