Raising crabs in plastic boxes, big profits

After 6 months of traveling from the South to the North to learn and accumulate experience, along with exploration and self-research, Mr. Vo Thanh Dien, residing in Cang Hamlet, Hoa Dien Commune, Kien Luong District ( Kien Giang ) decided to invest nearly 2 billion VND to set up a crab farm in plastic boxes, initially bringing high economic efficiency.

Crab farming model in plastic boxes of Mr. Vo Thanh Dien, residing in Cang hamlet, Hoa Dien commune, Kien Luong district (Kien Giang).

Once the director of an industrial shrimp farming enterprise, pursuing industrial shrimp farming for more than 20 years, Mr. Dien quit his job, bought land to set up his own high-tech shrimp farm and invested in a model of raising crabs in plastic boxes.

Sharing about the idea of investing in a model of raising crabs in plastic boxes, Mr. Dien said: “In the current market, sea crabs are a species with high economic value. Especially soft-shell crabs (rice crabs) have high nutritional value, are favored by consumers, priced from 650,000 - 1 million VND/kg depending on the time. However, crabs are also difficult to raise, with a low survival rate when released in the natural environment. After many visits, learning, and drawing experience from many places, I realized that the model of raising crabs in plastic boxes has many advantages, helping to proactively control the molting process of crabs, thereby being able to provide a quantity of high-quality soft-shell crabs, meeting market demand”.

With a farm area of more than 10 hectares implementing a high-tech shrimp farming model, Mr. Dien spent more than ^500m2 to build a factory and a high-tech crab farming area with a scale of about 4,000 boxes, with a farming capacity of 6,000 - 7,000 crabs/crop.

In Mr. Dien's farm, each crab weighs from 150 - 250 grams and is raised individually in plastic boxes with an automatic water supply system circulating 24/7. The crabs are monitored and observed for their growth and development every day. Therefore, when a crab shows signs of illness, it will be treated immediately, preventing the spread to other crabs.

A farming process can last from 30-35 days depending on the molting cycle of the crab. Sometimes it can be shortened if the crabs are purchased from the people and are about to molt, they can be raised for another 1-2 weeks before being harvested.

In the first crop, Mr. Dien raised about 800 crabs. Due to his subjectivity and lack of experience, the imported crabs had a low survival rate due to environmental shock. After that, learning from experience, in the second crop, he is currently releasing about 800-900 crabs, with a survival rate of over 80% and the crabs are growing very well.

The model of raising crabs in plastic boxes applies a high-tech production process, using a closed-loop water treatment system. More than 90% of the water is reused after going through the filtration system and sterilized with UV rays. The water environment is completely controlled for diseases, helping to limit risks and increase the survival rate of crabs.

Mr. Dien said: “The production cost of 1kg of commercial soft-shell crab according to this farming process ranges from 220,000 - 240,000 VND/kg, with a market price of about 650,000 VND/kg, with a quantity of 1,000 crabs/crop, I can earn a profit of about 35 million VND/crop after deducting all costs. I can raise 7-8 crops a year.”

The current difficulty is that the source of seed for the farm is not stable. In the past, Mr. Dien mainly purchased seed from farmers in Hoa Dien commune. To solve this difficulty, Mr. Dien took advantage of the large unused square pond area, raised crab seed in the pond himself, and combined it with raising fish and apple snails to proactively supply seed as well as food for crabs, reduce production costs, and improve economic efficiency.

Besides producing soft-shell crabs, he plans to fatten up soft-shell crabs and meat crabs to diversify products, supplying the market for the upcoming Christmas, New Year, and Lunar New Year holidays.

The effectiveness of the crab farming model in plastic boxes from Mr. Dien’s farm has attracted the attention of many farmers in and outside the province. Some farmers have come to visit, exchange and learn from experiences.

Mr. Dien shared: “This is a production model that can be applied to small production areas, and can be completely applied to farmers with little production land. Farmers who are interested can come and visit, our facility will support, advise, train, transfer technology and implement the installation of crab farming systems in plastic boxes and aim to connect product consumption”.

With a high-tech production process that helps increase survival rates and proactively control diseases, the model of raising crabs in plastic boxes initially brings high economic efficiency, opening up prospects for aquaculture in Kien Luong.

Article and photos: THUY TRANG – According to Kien Giang Online Newspaper

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