Đồng Nai plans to invest hundreds of billion dong in building a high technology shrimp farming

According to Đồng Nai Fisheries sub-department, the environment condition and quality of water resource in Nhơn Trạch district suit shrimp fine. However, traditional farming method has resulted in low productivity and high risks of diseases caused by the polluted water resources. 

Several households started to work with companies in 2016 to develop their shrimp farms using high technologies. The result was beyond expectations when output was much more than traditional method. Working together, shrimp farmers were advised to divide farms into part for easy management.

Besides this, there must be nursery ponds and slurry-storage tank to prevent water pollution. Even though growing ponds are narrowed, technical farming resulted in higher revenue, bumper crops, higher stocking density, increased productivity, bigger shrimp, and double crops per year. Thus, the new method helped farmers raise profit and more importantly remove worries about disease outbreaks.

Nguyễn Văn Nhân, an officer of the Economy Office of Nhơn Trạch district, said: “Traditional method required farmers to divide the one-hectare farm into two parts with 70% being used to rear shrimps and 30% for water treatment. It is on the contrary now in the hi-tech farm as 70% of the farm is used for water treatment and the rest for farming”.

In his opinion, this change has resulted in shrimp yield from each crop being three or four fold as compared to the traditional grow-out pond. This model can cover at least four crops but two before. Disease risks can be controlled more easily.

“The hi-tech growing ponds have clearly brought much benefits. Several households have developed to nearly thirty households engaged into cultivating shrimps with high technology, increasing in farming area up to 56.5 hectares and profit being estimated to reach two billion dong/ha.

For sustainability, Đồng Nai Provincial agriculture and Rural development department issued a plan for developing shrimp sector of the province up to 2025. 

The general plan is to take use of the local advantages to develop the shrimp sector for safety assurance, make products, apply the advanced technology, enhance the added-value, raise local people’s income, promote economic growth and protect the ecological environment.

The plan is to raise giant tiger shrimp farms up to 45 ha and output to 202 tons, raimain the freshwater shrimp farms of 430 ha with output of 19,200 tons. Đồng Nai intends to develop hi-tech and environmentall-sound shrimp farms. 

Early 2018, Đồng Nai approved the centralized seafood farming area in Nhơn Trạch district from now until 2020 with vision to 2030. The province’s plan is to build 700-hectare hi-tech shrimp farms in the super-intensive direction where finished shrimp products meet required export standards. The 682-hectare freshwater shrimp farm using high technology is located in Phước An and Vĩnh Thanh communes of Nhơn Trạch district and the remaining 21-hectare area is used for rearing oysters. The facility construction will cost 226 billion dong.