Nghe An successfully produces white-leg shrimp breed

(Baonghean) - Good news for shrimp farmers in Nghe An: In mid-April, in Quynh Lien commune (Hoang Mai town), Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong's shrimp farm officially announced the successful production of white-leg shrimp; and up to now, more than 15 million shrimp seeds have been sold to shrimp farmers in the region.

Happy, because from 2010 until now, white-leg shrimp breed has been the first choice of shrimp farmers in Nghe An, because of its high productivity (tens of tons/ha), short farming season, and avoidance of diseases. The whole province raises more than 1,300 hectares of white-leg shrimp ponds/crop, the demand for breeds is 1.3 billion/year. Due to "hot" development, the area increased rapidly without being proactive in quality breeds, so farmers have fallen into a difficult situation for many years. For example, in the first crop of 2014, nearly 90% of the farming area in Quynh Luu district, due to the inability to control the quality of the breed, had to buy and transport from other provinces, so the health of the breed was affected, the farmed shrimp did not grow, so farmers suffered losses.

Checking shrimp seeds in Quynh Lien commune (Quynh Luu).

Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong’s hatchery successfully produced white-leg shrimp, opening a new direction for local shrimp seed production. The demand for white-leg shrimp seeds in the area is currently very high, and Mr. Cuong’s production facility cannot meet the demand. Reality shows that this model needs to be replicated.

Some experts say that Nghe An currently has more than 50 black tiger shrimp breeding farms, the relevant authorities need to inspect and classify qualified farms, encouraging them to convert to white-leg shrimp breeding. Along with that is the incentive mechanism, currently the support for shrimp breeding facilities is being applied according to Decision 09 of the Provincial People's Committee issued on February 4, 2012 (black tiger shrimp breeding facilities are supported with a maximum of 100 million VND/farm). To produce white-leg shrimp breeds requires a huge capital source of up to several billion VND. In addition to the support according to Decision 09 of the Provincial People's Committee, there should be other policies to help breeding farms successfully convert, so that there are many white-leg shrimp breeding facilities to help people be proactive in farming, limiting risks in breeding leading to losses.

Quynh Lien shrimp hatchery (Quynh Luu)

Here is the model of Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong for shrimp hatcheries to refer to: At the end of 2014, Mr. Cuong signed a contract with a joint stock company to receive technology transfer; at the same time, he invested 3 billion VND to renovate and upgrade the shrimp hatchery. According to Mr. Cuong, the most expensive investment is in building a house to raise parent shrimp. Unlike giant tiger shrimp, white-leg shrimp can only adapt to an environmental temperature of about 300C; temperatures lower or higher than 300C greatly affect the shrimp's reproduction process. For Nghe An, the temperature fluctuation between seasons is up to several dozen degrees; to overcome this, in winter, the temperature must be increased by steam, in summer, the air conditioner must be used to reduce the temperature in the hatchery. Because a large capacity air conditioner must be installed, the investment cost for a house to raise parent shrimp at Mr. Cuong's farm is more than 1.5 billion VND. After renovating the facilities, in early 2015, the farm imported 250 pairs of parent shrimp from Thailand at a price of 96 USD/pair; along with that, 2 experts (1 to take care of parent shrimp, 1 to spawn and take care of baby shrimp) were contracted to prepare for the shrimp's breeding season. To raise the parent shrimp, the farm has to spend no less than 6 million VND per day on food.

An indispensable part of the parent shrimp's diet is sea worms - creatures of the bloodworm family (without this food, female shrimp will not lay eggs). This type of sea worm only lives in the South Central Coast. To ensure fresh food, the food is transported by air every day from Cam Ranh airport to Noi Bai, then from Noi Bai airport to the bus station in Hanoi, from there the bus transfers to Hoang Mai. The transportation time must be as fast as possible, ensuring that the food is fresh, the shrimp will not eat dead worms.

After stabilizing the breeding, at the end of March, Mr. Cuong's shrimp farm began testing shrimp spawning. According to Mr. Tran Van Tinh - a shrimp care expert, the climate in Nghe An is more difficult than in the South due to the large temperature fluctuations between seasons. Therefore, strict temperature control is very important.

Currently, in addition to 15 million white-leg shrimp fry that have been exported to the farms, Mr. Cuong's shrimp hatchery is raising more than 28 million POTS of various types and is continuing to spawn. When hearing that Mr. Cuong's farm was able to produce white-leg shrimp fry, local shrimp farmers came to visit and place many orders, because they could see the shrimp fry production process of the farm with their own eyes. On the other hand, through monitoring the number of households releasing shrimp fry at the farm, the shrimp are healthy and grow very quickly. This year, Mr. Cuong's farm plans to import another batch of white-leg shrimp parents with about 300 pairs, producing about 60 million fry to serve the needs of shrimp farmers.

Article and photos:Mr. Tuan