Feeding shrimp with garlic, Nghe An farmers earn half a billion dong per crop

This year's shrimp farming season, Mr. Nguyen Van Trang's family in Hong Phong village, An Hoa commune, prepared well the pond infrastructure to raise 400,000 shrimp fry in a pond area of ​​4,000 m2.².

This is the third year his family has applied technical advances to shrimp farming by using tarpaulins to line the bottom of the pond, and at the same time renovating the pond to facilitate monitoring and checking the growth of shrimp.

In particular, he fed shrimp garlic combined with probiotics to treat the water environment to help shrimp grow healthily, absorb food well and increase resistance.

Shrimp farmers in Son Hai commune (Quynh Luu) apply technology to feed shrimp garlic to prevent disease and increase productivity. Photo: Viet Hung

At this point, the shrimp in the pond are over 60 days old, weighing 80 shrimp/kg. It is expected that in about 15-20 days, Mr. Trang's family will harvest, at which time the shrimp will weigh 50 shrimp/kg.

"Shrimp farmers who apply the method of feeding shrimp with garlic must be very diligent. Every day, they must grind garlic 3-4 times, mix it with food and then release it into the pond. This farming method is both cheap and very effective. From stocking to harvesting, it only takes 90 days to buy garlic. Currently, the shrimp raised in the pond have grown well for more than 60 days; after about 20 more days of harvesting, the expected yield is 7 tons of shrimp, the family will earn a profit of more than 500 million VND" - Mr. Trang shared.

Currently, many households in An Hoa and Son Hai communes are applying the technology of feeding garlic to shrimp. This method has been widely replicated by people in the past 2 years.

40 kg of feed will be mixed with 2 kg of minced garlic, then left for 15 minutes and released into the pond for the shrimp to eat. Photo: Viet Hung

Mr. Bui Trung Cai, a shrimp farmer in Son Hai commune, said that people based on the effectiveness of feeding garlic to chickens and pigs, they have tested this method for shrimp. From a few households doing it, it was then expanded to other localities; the rate of shrimp farmers using this method is high.

"Garlic is considered a biological antibiotic, very good for preventing diseases for shrimp, especially hepatopancreatic disease and white feces. Raising shrimp with garlic will ensure clean shrimp, consumers can use it with peace of mind. Meanwhile, using antibiotics, although not prohibited, if raised after 3 months of harvest, the amount of antibiotics in shrimp cannot be released completely. Therefore, farmers are moving towards raising shrimp using this microbial technology to gradually increase the value of the product" - Mr. Bui Trung Cai said.

According to shrimp farmers, using garlic to feed shrimp is a safe solution, especially in the current polluted environment. To apply this technology, farmers must prepare a large amount of garlic at home; for every 40 kg of feed, mix it with 2 kg of crushed garlic, then incubate for 15 minutes and then release it into the pond for the shrimp to eat. On average, farmers will feed shrimp 4 times a day with 160 kg of feed, the amount of garlic combined is 8 kg/day.

Feeding shrimp garlic will prevent two types of diseases: hepatopancreas and white feces. Photo by Viet Hung

This method of farming must be applied regularly from the time of stocking until harvest to maximize effectiveness. In addition, farmers will combine garlic, probiotics and honey to treat the water environment, release waste, and color the water in the pond.

"The application of technology to feed shrimp with garlic combined with probiotics brings high efficiency to farmers. For example, in the 2017 shrimp crop, about 70% of the total number of households successfully applied it; each pond after harvesting achieved 5 - 8 tons of shrimp, deducting costs, the profit was from 400 - 700 million VND/crop" - Mr. Le Xuan Quyet, Vice Chairman of An Hoa Commune People's Committee affirmed.

Quynh Luu is a district with a large shrimp farming area of ​​460 hectares. Up to now, people in An Hoa, Quynh Bang, Quynh Thanh communes... have harvested over 200 tons of shrimp. According to people, this year's shrimp price is higher than last year, shrimp weighing 100 pieces/kg costs 100,000 VND; shrimp weighing 50 pieces/kg costs 170,000 VND./.