Unique profession of raising field crabs eating rice flowers in Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - On the rice-growing land, Mr. Hoang Van Dai's family in Quynh Doi commune (Quynh Luu) invested money and built an improved pond system to raise field crabs. After nearly 3 months of trial farming, the field crabs grew rapidly, with a value 10 times higher than that of rice farming.

Harvesting crabs in the rice fields of Mr. Hoang Van Dai's family - Quynh Doi after nearly 3 months

In October 2015, Mr. Hoang Van Dai and his wife, Mrs. Ho Thi Hoa, in village 7, Quynh Doi commune, contracted 7 sao of agricultural land in Cua Vuon area to raise crabs combined with rice cultivation. After more than 2 months of experimental farming in rice fields, his family is now starting to harvest crabs. The encouraging sign is that the crabs grow quickly, with relatively high yields.

Mr. Dai shared: "After consulting information on the Internet, I found that raising crabs in rice fields brings high income. Realizing that this is a fairly new model and very few households do it, my family has experimented with raising them on an area of ​​3 sao. Now my family is in the crab harvest season."

The family covered the rice field with corrugated iron to prevent crabs from crawling out.

In March 2016, Mr. Dai bought 3,500 natural crabs for 5 million VND to raise in the rice field. After that, he invested about 15 million VND to buy corrugated iron to cover the area, preventing the crabs from crawling ashore. On that area, in addition to growing rice to provide shelter for the crabs from the sun, he continued to string ropes to create paths for duckweed, creating a food source and hiding place for the crabs. After nearly 3 months of raising, it is estimated that the family will harvest about 300 kg - 350 kg of meat crabs, the remaining small crabs will continue to be harvested until the end of September. With a price of 100,000 VND/kg, in this first crab farming season, Mr. Hoang's family will earn over 30 million VND, 10 times higher than growing rice.

Mr. Dai said: Crabs are easy to raise, rarely get sick, reproduce and develop very quickly, and their main food is trash fish. In particular, crabs reproduce in very large numbers, each female crab can produce hundreds of small crabs, thereby increasing crab production many times over. Moreover, raising field crabs is less costly and can be harvested many times per crop.

Raising crabs in rice fields creates more natural food sources for crabs

It is just the beginning of the harvest season but there are about 5 traders from other places who have registered to buy field crabs for Mr. Dai's family. The field crabs will be transported to northern provinces such as Hanoi, Hai Phong... the price of crabs can be up to 170-200 thousand/kg.

Field crabs that eat rice flowers have a high price and are favored by traders because of their delicious, clean quality.

Mr. Ho Sy Hung - Vice Chairman of Quynh Doi Commune People's Committee said: The crab farming model of Mr. Hoang Van Dai's household is currently bringing high economic efficiency. In the coming time, the locality will plan and mobilize people to learn more to replicate the crab farming model, thereby bringing economic efficiency to the family as well as developing the local economy.

In addition to raising crabs and growing rice, Mr. Hoang Van Dai’s family also raises pigs and monosex tilapia. Each year, the family’s total income is over 150 million VND.

Viet Hung