Attractive black snail farming in Do Luong

Worried about how to develop her family's economy, in April 2016, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang in Ngoc Thanh hamlet, Giang Son Dong commune went to the North to buy black apple snails for 15 million VND. Before that, she had renovated the pond, spread lime to clean the bottom of the pond with an area of ​​over 1,500m2.²before raising... After nearly 6 months of raising, Ms. Thang harvested the first batch of 300 kg of commercial snails, earning 26 million VND.

Farming modelBlack apple snails of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang in Ngoc Thanh hamlet, Giang Son Dong commune (Do Luong). Photo: Ngoc Phuong

In the following snail seasons, during the feeding process, Ms. Thang realized that black apple snails are easy to raise, and the snails eat all kinds of leaves such as banana leaves, sweet potatoes, mustard greens, cassava leaves, etc. Taking advantage of the abandoned land, Ms. Thang planted cassava to get leaves as food for the snails.

Thanks to adequate food, snails grow quickly, and every 5 months or so, a batch of snails is harvested. In 2018, Ms. Thang harvested about 1 ton of black apple snails; with a selling price of 80,000 VND/kg, she earned nearly 80 million VND. In addition, she also sold snail seeds for 300,000 VND/kg. In total, Ms. Thang earns about 10 million VND per month from raising apple snails.

Snail eggs are placed in a pot with water. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Ms. Thang said that snails lay eggs from January to September of the lunar calendar. To breed snails, after the snails lay eggs, she collects the eggs and puts them in small plastic baskets, then places them in large plastic basins filled with water. Below the small plastic baskets, she places a bowl to prevent the snail eggs from being submerged in water. Ms. Thang places 4 small plastic baskets in each such plastic basin. The snail egg basins are placed in a cool place. After 20 days, the snail eggs will hatch and crawl into the water...

Ms. Thang shared her experience, the water in the pond is 1m deep or less, the stocking density is 100 fish/m². After about 10 days, drain 2/3 of the water and replace it with new water. Clean the pond banks to prevent rats from nesting and eating the snail eggs. Feed the snails with leaves every 3-4 days. During the rearing process, avoid the appearance of golden apple snails, because golden apple snails will grow and overwhelm black apple snails.

Currently, black apple snails cost about 80,000 VND/kg, 40 - 45 snails/kg. Photo: Ngoc Phuong

Since the beginning of 2019, Ms. Thang's family has focused on producing apple snail seeds to supply to farmers.

Along with raising snails, in the same pond area, Ms. Thang also raises fish. Raising fish does not affect the growth of black apple snails; except that black carp, white bat fish, and common carp are not allowed to be raised, because these are fish that eat snails. Raising fish and snails together has given Ms. Thang an income of nearly 200 million VND per year.