Dien Doai fishing village

(Baonghean) - Dien Doai and Dien Kim (Dien Chau) have long been famous for their fish breeding industry. Up to now, the industry has developed into a trusted address for fish farmers throughout the Central region from Quang Tri to Thanh Hoa.

Following the guidance of Vice Chairman of Dien Doai Commune People's Committee Nguyen Phi Nga, we went to the house of Nguyen Ngoc Le, considered one of the first people to bring the profession to the village.

Receiving us under the longan tree, right next to the fish pond, in the scent of ripe longan, Mr. Le said: After leaving the army, while not knowing what career to choose for the future, the commune had a policy to convert 26 hectares of low-lying, swampy rice fields full of sedge that the cooperative had previously organized for ineffective fish farming for members. The commune encouraged him to stand up and receive 1.3 hectares to set an example for everyone. That was in the early years of the 90s. While growing rice, raising fish, and planning, he gradually accumulated. The farm itself had several billion VND. 1991-2003 was the basic construction period, each year in addition to the labor of his family, Mr. Le had to hire nearly 400 workers. Each year, the renovated area grew one rice crop, harvested, and then released fish. 1.3 hectares of land was divided into many ponds, each pond raised a species of fish.

On the bank of the pond, he grows sugarcane and raises pigs. Every year, he earns tens of millions of dong from pigs and sugarcane, and invests in fish ponds. The years 1995, 1996, 1997 were the golden age of fish breeding. Each sao of fish breeding pond after 2 months brought in an income of 5 million dong. The target of 100 million dong/ha was achieved since then for fish farming. We don't know about the sunken treasure, but from what we saw, he bought an expensive car, invested in a wedding service facility worth nearly 1 billion dong, he also raised 2 pairs of deer, and with money, he invested in sending his 2 children to the UK to work as laborers.

Currently, his production facility maintains the production of about 25 tons of both fingerlings and meat fish each year. He is gradually investing in other less strenuous fields.

In addition to Mr. Le's model, we also went to see Mr. Tran Trung Tin's snakehead fish farming model. Born in 1987, Tin admitted that he was "stupid" and could not learn, so he switched to learning fish farming. But through Tin's behavior and calculations, no one thought he was stupid. The reason he was called "king of snakehead fish" was because he was the first person to bring snakehead fish to Dien Doai to raise. In 2007, through newspapers and radio, he saw that snakehead fish farming was popular, so following the information, Tin packed his bags and "learned from a master". With the knowledge he learned, he bought 5,000 fish fry to raise. Following the instructions, the fish ate a lot and grew quickly.

Before he could rejoice, worry came: In winter, the scaled fish died en masse, no one bought them, and they didn't take them for free. After researching, Tin learned that the disease was caused by the snakehead fish living in hot climates not being able to withstand the cold of winter, so he had to create a farming schedule, how to adapt to the weather, from placing the seed production, releasing the seed, harvesting to avoid the cold. The process that Tin created was to release the seed from February to December to finish the harvest. From 2008 until now, with this process, Tin's family has always been "right". Tin also raised 2 sao of catfish, 2 sao of traditional fish. Taking us to visit the cement tank raising snakehead fish with an area of ​​60m2, releasing 10,000 fish seeds, Tin affirmed to us that this year he would harvest 5 tons of fish meat.



Snakehead fish farming model of Mr. Tran Trung Tin's family (Dien Doai commune, Dien Chau).

According to Tin's calculation, each kilogram of fish with a net profit of 10,000 VND will bring in an income of 50 million VND. Just the amount of snakehead fish (seed and meat) raised in the home pond alone has nearly 200 million VND in profit. Not only is Tin creative in finding the right season and farming method, but he also takes on both input and output services for this fish. He is almost an exclusive agent providing snakehead fish seeds to farmers from Ha Tinh to Thai Binh. Tin also takes care of the output for the fish. From selling fish raised by his family to traders in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Vinh City... with connections, Tin provides services for other farmers, each year dozens of tons of fish pass through the hands of consumers, bringing in a considerable income.

Dien Doai has a field that was previously wild and full of sedges, but has now become the "honey land" of the commune. Raising fish for fry and meat has contributed to enriching 337 households from hamlet 3 to hamlet 11. Every year, fish contribute 135 billion VND to the total income of the commune. And also from this fishing village, 3 crop rotation formulas have been formed on Dien Doai land: fish for fry - meat fish, 1 rice - 1 fish, 2 rice - 1 fish. These formulas are helping the people here to effectively eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.

Mr. Tuan