A farmer in Yen Thanh district (Nghe An) earns a lot of money by 'releasing' crabs in the field.

In Yen Thanh district, Mr. Tran Quy Bao is not only famous for raising black apple snails and providing snail breeds to people, but he is also creative in cultivating local products in an ecological way, protecting the environment.

Growing up in a rice-growing region, realizing the value of land and local specialties such as eels, snails, crabs... he contracted the commune's wasteland to invest in 15 ponds to raise black apple snails.

During the snail harvest, Mr. Bao harvested a lot of field crabs. Field crabs cost 60-100 thousand VND/kg, and he sold all the crabs he had. He came up with the idea of ​​trying to raise crabs in duckweed ponds. Field crabs reproduce quickly, are easy to raise, and are highly effective. Every few weeks, he would harvest them to sell. Each time he harvested several hundred kilos of crabs. So he improved the land, released the field crabs into the rice fields, and surrounded them with thick plastic bags to avoid rats and prevent the crabs from crawling out.

Mr. Bao releases crab seeds in a field with an area of ​​5,000m2. Photo: QA

In the last days of May, in the sweltering heat, Mr. Tran Quy Bao, hamlet 2, communeDuc Thanh, Yen Thanh district is still working hard to cover the rice fields with plastic bags to keep up with the progress of releasing crabs. This is a new model that Mr. Bao has implemented with the expectation that it will bring high economic value and then share it with the people in the area to work together to become rich legitimately.

Mr. Bao said: My family has 15 ponds with an area of ​​about 2.5 hectares, previously mainly raising black apple snails. After seeing the actual effectiveness and value of field crabs, I decided to set aside 2 ponds with an area of ​​1,000m2 to experiment with raising field crabs. Seeing that the crabs grew well and brought a stable income, I decided to expand the model, bringing crabs to the rice fields.

To prevent crabs from crawling out or being bitten by rats, Mr. Bao has fenced the field with plastic. This type of plastic is very sturdy and less expensive than corrugated iron, fiber cement... Photo: QA

According to Mr. Bao, raising crabs in the fields has many advantages. Surrounding them with plastic cabinets saves more costs than surrounding them with corrugated iron or fiber cement like other models. It is worth mentioning that field crabs are easy to raise, their characteristic is to plow the soil themselves, without reducing the quality of the soil when growing rice. When the rice flowers, the crabs are fattest. In other seasons, the crabs are fed with ground golden apple snails and miscellaneous fish. Because of biological farming, the environment will be protected. At the same time, combine raising snails and crabs in the pond for higher income. When releasing, the small snails will be released from the crabs to avoid being eaten by the crabs.

Mr. Bao released the crabs at the end of May and is expected to harvest after 3 months. Photo: QA

The released crabs all grew well in the fields. Photo: QA

Mr. Bao said: While many agricultural products are difficult to find in the middle of the epidemic,Covid - 19His field crabs and black apple snails are always in a "sold out" state, especially during the hot season. Every day, many traders come to buy crabs at his house, then export them to provinces and cities, mainly in Hanoi. Field crabs are consumed strongly and there is rarely a situation of sluggish sales...

According to Mr. Bao's calculations, each sao of crab will yield 50 - 100kg, bringing in an income of about 4 million VND/sao, double that of rice cultivation. If other crabs are raised, it will have more value.

Mr. Bao harvests field crabs. Photo: QA

Because raising field crabs requires very little capital and is easy to raise, it is easy to deploy and expand. Currently, there is a shortage of output. When there is a large enough source of goods, Mr. Bao will research and apply science and technology to produce crushed crab juice to supply the city market.

Thanks to his diligence, hard work and creativity, Mr. Bao's 15 ponds always have a harvest. Besides, he also grows vegetables, papaya, guava... to feed snails and crabs and sell to the market.

Currently, field crabs are priced from 60,000 - 100,000 VND/kg and are out of stock. Photo: QA

Besides farming, Mr. Bao also directly guides and advises on pond design, supports farming techniques, and sells breeds to people in need.

Mr. Bao also provides black apple snails for breeders in need. Photo: Tran Chau

Dear readers who are in need of commercial field crabs, field crab seeds and black apple snails, please contact Mr. Tran Quy Bao, Hamlet 2, Duc Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District at phone number 0378.722.059.