Rich from raising turtles

(Baonghean) - In Tang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), many farming households are getting rich thanks to raising soft-shell turtles.

Hamlet 7 has dozens of households raising turtles, among which Mr. Thai Huu Hien is known as the "turtle king"; he said: In the past, the whole village raised poisonous snakes, which was very dangerous. In 1999, I was bitten by a snake and had to amputate a finger, so I quit snake farming and switched to raising soft-shell turtles. In 2000, I invested over 20 million VND to raise turtles on a scale of only 30 m2 with Thai soft-shell turtles and wild soft-shell turtles (wild soft-shell turtles). The first crop failed because almost all the soft-shell turtles died of disease. I traveled to Ha Tinh to learn about soft-shell turtle farming models, and then completely reinvested, building ponds in places with good drainage, with independent water sources to ensure clean, unpolluted water supply, and places for soft-shell turtles to rest in the water and on the shore. During this period, I mainly raised commercial soft-shell turtles of the Thai breed from Ha Tinh, with a scale of 250 - 300 turtles. Thanks to meeting technical criteria, soft-shell turtles are disease-free and grow well; they can be harvested after raising for 1 year, with an average weight of 3 kg/snake, sold for 250,000 VND/kg, earning over 200 million VND/year...

Mr. Thai Huu Hien at the soft-shell turtle farm.

It is known that since 2010, because the market favors soft-shelled turtles (a type of wild soft-shelled turtle), Mr. Hien has invested money to raise them. Soft-shelled turtles are very expensive, they have to be ordered from Lao Cai, each soft-shelled turtle weighing 1 kg costs about 1 million VND. In 2012, Mr. Hien raised over 150 soft-shelled turtles, with a survival rate of over 70%. To create more jobs for neighbors, Mr. Hien mobilized many households to raise soft-shelled turtles, and he was responsible for providing technical guidance. There are many households actively raising 25-50 soft-shelled turtles. Mr. Hien explained: With only 25 soft-shelled turtles, the survival rate reached 20, after 1 year of raising, a harvest of 3 kg/turtle, with a price of 700,000 VND/turtle, earned 42 million VND.

In Hamlet 7 alone, there are currently nearly 20 households raising soft-shell turtles. Thanks to the increase in the number of households, it is easy for everyone to join together to protect soft-shell turtles from theft, especially creating a favorable production area for consumption. Up to this point, in Mr. Hien's garden, there are 6 large and small ponds, all of which are embanked. All types of soft-shell turtles are classified by age for appropriate breeding. Mr. Hien pointed to the pond: There are currently over 500 soft-shell turtles, including 300 soft-shell turtles and 200 turtles... Raising on this scale, if there are no risks, the annual revenue will reach over 600 million VND. Thanks to soft-shell turtle farming, Mr. Hien's family has had money to renovate their house to make it more spacious, buy enough living facilities, and send their children to school.

Mr. Dao Van Khai's family in Hamlet 2, Tang Thanh also made a fortune thanks to raising soft-shell turtles. Before, his family worked in the fields, and it was difficult to have enough to eat. Seeing the effectiveness of Mr. Thai Huu Hien's soft-shell turtle farming model, Mr. Khai boldly invested in farming. In 2008, he spent all his money, borrowed money, dug a pond of over 700 square meters, and raised more than 1,000 Thai soft-shell turtles worth nearly 100 million VND. Due to lack of experience in farming, many soft-shell turtles died, resulting in losses. Mr. Khai did not give up, persistently studied documents and asked Mr. Hien for technical advice. In 2009, Mr. Khai continued to release over 1,000 Thai soft-shell turtles. Thanks to applying the correct technical process, that crop was a big success, with nearly 800 kg of soft-shell turtles, sold for 300,000 VND/kg, earning nearly 240 million VND. Mr. Khai mainly used that money to invest in renovating and upgrading the pond. Then he went to Ha Tinh to learn how to incubate soft-shell turtle eggs to proactively source eggs for himself and supply to the surrounding people. He bought soft-shell turtle eggs in Ha Tinh and built an incubator, and from this job alone he earned an additional income of 120-150 million VND/year.

According to Mr. Khai, raising soft-shelled turtles is not too difficult, the problem is knowing how to prevent diseases for soft-shelled turtles. As for the care and feeding, soft-shelled turtles are quite simple, soft-shelled turtles are omnivorous, taking advantage of dead animals, eating miscellaneous fish bought in the sea, mixed with vegetables, bananas, and bran. Since 2012, Mr. Khai has focused on raising more than 250 soft-shelled turtles, reaching 600 kg/batch, selling for 700,000 VND/kg, earning 420 million VND. Thus, the total revenue from soft-shelled turtles of Mr. Khai's family is about 700 million VND/year. In 2015, Mr. Khai boldly rented land in an ineffective field, about 1,000 m2, hired an excavator to dig 3 ponds to raise spiny soft-shelled turtles; currently, 1 pond has been completed and over 100 soft-shelled turtles have been raised, the cost of breeding 100 million VND. Mr. Khai shared more: The southern soft-shell turtle has a large weight, twice as much as the normal soft-shell turtle. The meat quality is delicious and more fragrant than the normal soft-shell turtle, so it sells for a very good price. The source of this wild soft-shell turtle has been very scarce for a long time, mainly having to be purchased in the northern provinces such as Lao Cai, Yen Bai... We have tried to breed the southern soft-shell turtle but failed, because the breeding site needs to have a small stream or waterfall. However, currently in Thanh Duc commune (Thanh Chuong), there is a facility that has successfully bred the wild soft-shell turtle; that is an advantage for us in proactively raising and releasing...

In 2015, Tang Thanh commune auctioned off dozens of hectares of ineffective rice fields for people to switch to raising soft-shell turtles; to date, the whole commune has nearly 100 households raising soft-shell turtles, concentrated in hamlets 2, 3, 6, 7. The number of households raising soft-shell turtles on a large scale is still small, mainly on a small scale. It can be affirmed that soft-shell turtle farming is one of the key economic development sectors of the locality, generating an annual revenue of 5-6 billion VND. Tang Thanh commune is building a website to promote the soft-shell turtle brand and has plans to establish a Soft-shell Turtle Farming Association...

Van Truong