'Monoculture' of fish in rice fields in Hung Nguyen

(Baonghean) - The movement of raising fish in rice fields has been promoted by local farmers in Hung Nguyen district, bringing high income value.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Phuc's family in Hamlet 5, Hung Thinh Commune (Hung Nguyen) raises fish in rice fields. Photo: Thanh Tam

Mr. Duong and Mrs. Minh's family in Hamlet 2A, Hung Tien Commune (Hung Nguyen) boldly took on the contract to convert 5 hectares of barren land into fish ponds. Before releasing the fish, the pond system was fertilized with lime, phosphate fertilizer, and manure to neutralize acidity, improve the water source, and create plankton to supplement the natural food source for the fish.

To proactively source fish fry and reduce investment costs, Mr. Duong's family went directly to fish farms to buy eggs to hatch to raise fish fry to supply to the family's ponds and sell fish fry to increase income.

Knowing that disease prevention is important in livestock farming, the family hired an engineer specializing in aquaculture to be in charge of fish farming techniques from the beginning. Thanks to that, the annual fish output reached over 12 tons. All of the family's commercial fish were imported to mountainous districts.

To have a stable output, fish are raised by the method of selective catching and releasing, harvesting fish once every 10 days, selling 1 ton of commercial fish each month at an average price of 40 million VND, each year Mrs. Minh and Mr. Duong's family earn about 400 million VND from fish farming.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong's family (Hung Tien commune) also invested in fish ponds and built livestock barns on 7 hectares. Previously, her family raised traditional fish such as grass carp, bighead carp, common carp, and bighead carp in an extensive farming method, so the efficiency and potential of the water surface were not fully exploited. Now, she boldly invested in renovating the pond to raise monosex tilapia in an intensive manner. From 1 hectare of trial farming, after more than 2 months of raising fish reaching 0.6 - 0.7 kg/fish, the family continued to expand the farming area. The fish yield reached 10 tons/ha.

In 2017, the area of ​​fish farming in Hung Nguyen reached 600 hectares, mainly concentrated in the communes of Hung Tan, Hung Tien, Hung Dao, Hung Tay, Hung Loi, Hung Trung... The average fish yield was from 3.6 - 4 tons/ha. Along with that, in some low-lying communes, farmers also raised fish in rice. The total area of ​​fish in rice in the whole district reached 180 hectares, the average yield was 1.5 - 1.8 tons/ha.

Many communes have combined the renovation of rice fields, planning of canal systems, and development of third-season fish farming. Hung Dao is the commune with the strongest movement in the district in third-season fish farming in rice fields with 10 years of implementing this model.

This year, the entire Hung Dao commune has 53 hectares of fish for the third crop, mainly concentrated in hamlets 4B, 6A, hamlet 7 and hamlet 3. The average annual yield is 1.2 tons/ha. The total output of the commune this year is estimated at nearly 60 tons of fish, worth over 3 billion VND.

Mr. Phan Van Tan - Chairman of Hung Dao Commune People's Committee said: "This is a very creative way of doing business of the people. However, raising fish in the third crop on rice land is greatly affected by the weather, so it needs careful care. After harvesting the fish in the third crop, people must organize to renovate the land to prepare for winter-spring rice production."

The movement of raising fish in the third crop in rice fields has developed strongly in some low-lying communes such as Hung Trung, Hung Thinh, Hung Phuc, Hung Tay. The advantage of raising fish in the third crop in rice fields is that it retains water, takes advantage of natural food sources in the fields, thus reducing costs and improving the efficiency of fish farming. At the same time, it helps the cultivation of the next rice crop to be more effective thanks to the mud in the fields being aerated when raising fish. It is expected that this year, the whole district of Hung Nguyen will raise 300 hectares of fish in the third crop, and farmers are currently actively treating the fields and retaining water for this activity./.

Thanh Tam