Raising giant freshwater prawns on rice fields gives good income

STO - Giant freshwater prawn is an aquatic species that is easy to raise, requires little care, requires little investment and has a high economic value. From the economic benefits that giant freshwater prawn brings, in the past few years, people in the specialized "shrimp - rice" farming area of Gia Hoa 2 commune, My Xuyen district (Soc Trang) have developed giant freshwater prawn farming in rice fields and rotated one shrimp crop and one rice crop.

With many years of experience in intercropping and rotating shrimp farming on rice fields in Gia Hoa 2 commune, Mr. Le Van Dien shared: "I have been growing rice and raising shrimp for more than 15 years. I usually raise one crop of shrimp on rice fields after the rice has been harvested. The shrimp I raise are mainly giant tiger prawns and whiteleg shrimp. However, in the past 2 years, I have chosen to raise giant freshwater prawns, because they rarely encounter diseases, are resistant to erratic weather changes and can withstand salinity from 4 - 10‰. After 2 seasons of raising giant freshwater prawns on rice fields, the profits have always been stable, the selling price has remained good at 130,000 - 160,000 VND/kg (depending on size), and all the shrimp output after harvest has been purchased by traders."

Households raise giant freshwater prawns in rice fields after the rice harvest. Photo: THUY LIEU

According to Mr. Dien, to ensure the time to cultivate 1 rice crop and 1 shrimp crop in a year, around mid-September (solar calendar) every year, he buys 50,000 giant freshwater prawns to raise and raise in ponds, waits until the rice harvest is complete (more than 3 months), then floods the fields to treat the stubble for 1 month, then transfers the prawns from the pond to the fields for the prawns to grow. With 2 hectares of rice fields, the number of prawns stocked is 50,000, which is a moderate density. The prawns are fed twice a day (morning - afternoon), in the morning they are fed industrial feed, and in the afternoon they are fed brown rice. After about 5 months of farming, the prawns enter the harvest stage. In this way, the growth of giant freshwater prawns is uneven, so he harvests the prawns that reach the weight for sale first. He has now harvested more than 5 batches of shrimp and is expected to finish harvesting by the end of May 2023, with an estimated shrimp output of more than 2 tons, after deducting costs, the profit is more than 150 million VND. From 1 shrimp farming crop combined with 1 rice crop, Mr. Dien earns more than 170 million VND/year.

Also applying the shrimp-rice model, Mr. Le Van Hung, Gia Hoa 2 commune, has chosen to raise giant freshwater prawns intercropped in rice fields for the past 3 years. Mr. Hung shared: “I raise 1 crop of shrimp and cultivate 1 crop of rice (ST24, ST25 varieties) on an area of 2 hectares. About 1 month before the rice is sown, I buy shrimp seedlings to raise, wait until the rice is 150 - 180cm high, then put the shrimp in the rice fields to raise. Living in rice fields, shrimp eat small organisms and residue from leftover straw, so the food for shrimp is insignificant. Additional food for shrimp is dried coconut and brown rice, which can be fed twice a day”.

“Shrimp raised for 5 months in rice fields are harvested by selective harvesting, selecting large shrimp to sell first. Harvest about 10 batches/shrimp crop, each batch harvests over 100kg, with a stocking quantity of 30,000 giant freshwater prawns, harvested until the end of the season, profiting over 120 million VND/shrimp crop/2ha. The secret to getting good weight and delicious meat quality for shrimp is to break off both claws during the farming process (when the shrimp are 3.5 - 4 months old); at the same time, the water in the shrimp farming field must be changed once a month, to avoid dirty water causing algae to stick to the shrimp's body, causing slow growth and poor selling price" - Mr. Hung added.

Comrade Tang Thanh Chi - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of My Xuyen district said: "The annual shrimp farming area in the shrimp - rice model of My Xuyen district is about 19,000 hectares, concentrated in 6 communes of key shrimp - rice areas such as: Ngoc Dong, Ngoc To, Hoa Tu 1, Hoa Tu 2, Gia Hoa 1, Gia Hoa 2, in which the rice cultivation area on shrimp land is more than 8,000 hectares. Gia Hoa 2 commune is the locality with the largest area in the shrimp - rice model, with over 2,000 hectares, of which more than 1,300 hectares are for rice cultivation. In order to develop the shrimp - rice model well, the district is organizing the production of the model in the direction of cooperation and concentrated production. Creating favorable conditions for cooperatives, cooperative groups and farmers to access capital sources, programs and projects to develop production. At the same time, propagandizing households to continue expanding the area of green-legged shrimp farming in the shrimp - rice model, Because giant freshwater prawns have little risk of disease and the rate of shrimp raised to harvest is almost 100%. Coordinate with institutes, schools and provincial departments and branches to build and successfully implement the Investment Project to develop the shrimp - rice production area in My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province, period 2021 - 2025".

Over the past decades, the shrimp-rice model in localities in My Xuyen district has developed very well. According to the assessment of the industry and experts, the shrimp-rice model is a sustainable model, adapting to climate change, ensuring good profits for households. Therefore, people in the shrimp-rice area need to research and choose suitable shrimp to raise on rice land to always bring good income to the household.

THUY LIEU

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