Mr. Le Van Sam (67 years old), with his gentle face and ever-present smile, is a familiar figure to the people of Thanh Hai commune, Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province. "Ba Sam" is the affectionate and familiar name the locals call him. He is considered the pioneer of high-tech shrimp farming in the area.
Mr. Le Van Sam, commonly known as Ba Sam, shares his experience in getting rich from high-tech shrimp farming. Photo: HT
At his newly built multi-million dollar villa, Mr. Ba Sam happily shared with a VietNamNet reporter : "This year's shrimp harvest was a huge success, with profits reaching tens of billions of dong."
Mr. Ba Sam is a retired government official, originally from the coastal province of Ben Tre. For over 20 years, he has been involved in shrimp farming, even though the industry was not yet well-developed in the area at that time. Back then, his family owned 5 hectares of water surface for traditional shrimp farming. In the early years, the shrimp farming yielded profits, but they were not high.
In subsequent ventures, Mr. Ba Sam faced setbacks due to a lack of experience in managing fish ponds and wastewater, and the fish fry became infected and died, resulting in consecutive losses and forcing him to borrow money from many sources. At one point, he considered selling his land and house, abandoning the profession, and switching to another field.
Mr. Ba Sam and his high-tech shrimp farm are covered with white roofing. Photo: HT
At this time, he learned that many farmers in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces had made a fortune raising shrimp using high-tech methods.
At the same time, he was introduced to and invited by a company specializing in aquaculture to visit and learn about high-tech shrimp farming models in the two provinces. There, he learned many valuable experiences about shrimp farming.
After a process of learning, researching, and drawing conclusions, Mr. Ba Sam realized that shrimp farming using high-tech agricultural methods brings many benefits such as: controlling the farming environment, managing diseases, and increasing harvest productivity compared to traditional farming.
In early 2015, he decided to raise shrimp using high-tech methods. In the very first season, he reaped significant profits. “At that time, I saw others investing successfully, but the capital was too high, so I only dared to experiment by building a 1,000m2 pond for over 200 million VND. Unexpectedly, I struck it rich in the first season with 8 tons of shrimp, earning over 800 million VND,” Mr. Sam confided.
From then on, the man from Ben Tre gradually switched to high-tech shrimp farming.
According to him, each hectare of land can only accommodate 1,000-2,000 square meters of shrimp farming, with the remaining area used for investing in roads, settling ponds, and ready-to-use ponds, totaling over 1 billion VND in costs. Compared to traditional models, the cost of high-tech shrimp farming is many times higher, but the efficiency is much greater, yielding profits from the very first season and ensuring sustainable development.
Thanks to the application of proper technical procedures, Mr. Ba Sam's shrimp farming consistently yields high productivity.
"Recently, I harvested two shrimp farms during the off-season, covering an area of 3 hectares of water surface, yielding 134 tons and generating a profit of approximately 16 billion VND after deducting expenses," he shared.
Thanks to his high-tech shrimp farming model, Mr. Ba Sam now owns nearly 50 hectares of land. Each hectare of water surface yields 50-70 tons, sometimes even 100 tons. After deducting expenses, he earns a profit of 30-50 billion VND per year.
His shrimp farm also received support from the Ben Tre Department of Agriculture to build a farming area that meets ASC standards (a strict international standard for environment, social, animal welfare, and food safety). Thanks to achieving ASC certification, the selling price of shrimp is 5,000 VND/kg higher than the market price.
Harvesting shrimp at Mr. Ba Sam's family farm. Photo: EX
According to the leaders of the Ben Tre Farmers' Association, Mr. Sam is one of the first successful high-tech shrimp farmers in the province. His family's shrimp farms provide stable employment for about 50 local workers.
In 2023, he received the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer.
Comment (0)