Unique duck farming in the fields

(Baonghean.vn) - Raising ducks after harvesting wild rice has become a profession for many Nghi Loc farmers. Although the job is hard, the profits are quite high.

Mr. Chu Van Tien in Hamlet 4, Nghi Phuong Commune opened a year-round duck farm. In addition to raising ducks in captivity, every year when the spring and summer-autumn rice crops are about to be harvested, he prepares several thousand ducklings to raise free-range ducks. Mr. Tien said: Raising free-range ducks is more labor-intensive, but in return, the ducks will find their own food, reducing input costs and bringing in high profits.

When the spring rice harvest is finished and water is pumped into the fields to prepare the soil for the next rice crop, Mr. Tien lets the ducks leave the farm and starts raising them in the fields.

Not only Mr. Tien but also anyone who has raised ducks did not miss this opportunity. In the rice-growing communes of Nghi Loc, each locality has fifteen households raising free-range ducks. Depending on the ability of each household, each free-range duck flock has a size of from five hundred to several thousand ducks. When the rice plants enter the ear-forming stage, households buy one-day-old ducklings to raise.

To have a healthy flock of ducks with a low loss rate, people often order quarantined ducklings from reputable facilities. In the early stages, the ducks are kept in captivity and fed with synthetic feed to help them grow quickly. When they are ready to be released into the fields, the ducks are fed rice and corn, and are protected from diarrhea and septicemia. Before being released into the fields, the ducks are well cared for, healthy enough to find a lot of food and move across the fields, sometimes as long as five or six kilometers.

Ducks grow fast when allowed to graze on rice fields after harvest.

Ducks need water as their habit. Therefore, during this season, wherever water is pumped into the fields, the ducks are released. The ducks' main food is spilled rice. The fields that are harvested by machines have more of this food.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thai - Agricultural Extension Officer of Nghi Phuong Commune said: Thanks to the ducks running in the fields, the scattered rice is cleaned up. Otherwise, this rice will germinate and grow very well without flowers, crowding and affecting the development as well as the yield of the next crop. Animals that are harmful to rice such as crabs, golden apple snails, grasshoppers, and planthoppers are also exterminated by the ducks running in the fields.

According to Oriental medicine, duck meat has a sweet, slightly salty taste, cold properties, and the effect of nourishing yin, nourishing the stomach, promoting urination, reducing swelling, and detoxifying. Among them, duck vermicelli is an attractive dish for many people on hot days.

During a month of being released into the field, the ducks are able to find their own food without the need for additional feeding. Because the ducks are fed entirely on fallen rice and animals in the field, their meat is firmer and sweeter, and of much better quality than ducks fed on synthetic feed. Therefore, free-range ducks are popular with consumers. At the end of the breeding season, most of these ducks are purchased by traders in the field to supply to restaurants.

According to farmers, with the price of duck meat at 38,000 VND/kg, after two months of raising 1,000 ducks in the fields, minus losses, costs for breeding and feed in the initial stage, the farmer will earn a profit of approximately 40 million VND. This is a quite attractive number for farmers.

Nhat Tuan

Nghi Loc Station