Raising frogs and fish in greenhouses

Field frogs are being raised on a trial basis in Bao Loc. With many special techniques, the frog raising model of a young family has shown the adaptability of this breed of animal in the mountain town.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao is bathing a frog.

The family of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao and Ms. Dao Thi Xuan Tram, Tran Phu Street, Loc Son Ward, Bao Loc City, has just started a business raising frogs. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao informed that in the provinces of the Southwest as well as Dong Nai , raising frogs is a very popular livestock farming profession. Frogs are welcomed by consumers because of their delicious taste and good nutrition. But in the mountainous town of Bao Loc, frogs are still quite strange livestock. Low temperature, unfamiliar farming process, Mr. Bao consulted many frog farmers before preparing to buy the breed.

“My family’s frog farming technique is a technique learned from frog farmers in the West. That is, raising frogs on net cages (in net cages), taking advantage of the family’s available earthen pond area. On the net, the family raises frogs, and in the water, they release tilapia, creating a closed cycle, which people often call double frog farming” - Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao shared. On the surface of the available earthen pond, Mr. Bao made a steel frame, covered with a sparse net. With a water level of approximately 2 - 5 cm, the frogs have just enough water to grow, but not enough depth to swim. Mr. Bao said that raising frogs on nets with low water levels will limit their movements, making them grow and fatten quickly.

One of the special things that is different from the West is that Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao's family raises frogs in a greenhouse. He shared that frogs are amphibians, their habitat has a warm climate. When coming to Bao Loc, the cold climate often limits frog growth. Therefore, to raise frogs, he had to build a greenhouse covering the entire pond area. Then, he built cages to create a place for frogs to grow. To raise frogs above and below the pond, Mr. Hoang Bao released a large amount of perch. According to him, perch is a suitable fish to raise with frogs.

“We feed the frogs above, the leftover food goes through the mesh, and becomes food for the tilapia. The frogs shed their skin every day, and the slime and skin become food for the fish. The family does not have to feed the fish any more. When the frogs are lost, the baby frogs are also used as food for the fish. At the same time, the fish eat all the waste and leftover food, helping to clean the water and reduce pollution. This is a closed farming model carried out in a cold area like Bao Loc,” said Nguyen Hoang Bao. He also informed that people in the West and Dong Nai all raise the frogs above and the fish below. The important thing is to choose the right livestock, suitable for the frogs. In particular, tilapia is a gentle fish, easy to eat, easy to care for, and popular in the market.

Starting to raise from May 2024, initially, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao's family imported 10,000 frogs weighing 5-7 grams each. Up to now, after 2.5 months, the frogs' weight has reached 4-5 frogs/kg. Mr. Bao said that this is the stage of stimulating rapid growth of frogs, he is feeding them 3 times/day. After about 3 months, reaching a weight of 3-4 frogs/kg is enough to meet the standards for sale. According to information, when raising 10,000 frogs, the loss rate is 30%, after three months, 1.5 tons of commercial frogs can be sold.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao also commented that frogs are a species that grows very quickly. Therefore, if well cared for, it only takes three months to harvest a batch of meat frogs. At the same time, with frog farming, tilapia fish also have enough weight to sell. Therefore, farmers who like to raise frogs in Bao Loc have established a cooperative to join hands to develop frog farming.

Not only stopping at raising meat frogs, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Bao's family is researching to raise breeding frogs. According to Mr. Bao, in the cold rainy season, mating frogs produce many small male frogs with low economic value. In the warm season, breeding frogs will produce a high proportion of female frogs, with larger weight and higher economic value. After 3 months of successful trial breeding, Mr. Hoang Bao and Ms. Xuan Tram are building an additional greenhouse and cage to raise 20 more frogs as well as an area to research frog breeding. According to Mr. Bao, the most important thing when raising frogs is to ensure a clean water environment. The pond must have an inlet and outlet water system. When the water is too polluted, the water needs to be drained and the amount of new water increased.

Mr. Mai Xuan Truong - Deputy Secretary of the Youth Union of Loc Son Ward, Bao Loc City, assessed that the couple Nguyen Hoang Bao - Dao Thi Xuan Tram are modern young people, actively participating in the local mass movement. At the same time, they are also examples of young people starting a business, raising various animals: frogs, perch, snakehead fish, stabilizing the family economy and participating in building the movement of young people doing good business in Loc Son Ward.

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/kinh-te/202407/nuoi-ech-ca-trong-nha-kinh-f3f144c/