Shrimp farmers protect their assets before the storm season

(Baonghean) - Brackish water shrimp is a high economic value crop for farmers but also carries many potential risks, especially during the rainy and stormy season. Some households in Nghi Thai and Hung Hoa who raise shrimp along the Lam River are looking for ways to protect their assets before the rainy and stormy season..

Hung Hoa farmers strengthen shrimp care before adverse weather

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong's family has 2 ponds for raising white-leg shrimp with a total area of ​​1 hectare. This year, shrimp farming encountered many difficulties because the first crop had only been stocked for 40 days and the shrimp died en masse due to white spot disease. The second crop was favorable, so the shrimp grew well. To avoid the flood, his family harvested 1 week ago with a yield of 1.5 tons, earning more than 200 million VND, minus investment costs, making a profit of about 100 million VND.

Mr. Tran Van Hien, Phong Hao hamlet, said, "The biggest fear of shrimp farming is the risk of disease. White spot disease often appears in the spring crop, white spot disease is less common in the autumn crop, but shrimp are also susceptible to black gill disease and algae disease due to the impact of the environment and weather. This season often has heavy rains, changing the concentration of water surface. Here, households have 2-3 sao of settling ponds to store salt water. When it rains and the salt concentration in the pond decreases, they must add salt water and use lime powder to fertilize the pond to disinfect and prevent disease for shrimp.

Households line the shore with tarpaulins to prevent landslides caused by storms.

Whiteleg shrimp have a short farming time but have weaker resistance so they are susceptible to diseases. Tiger shrimp have a longer farming time but are healthier so they are more resistant this season. So this season my family has been raising tiger shrimp, and so far they have only been raised for 2 months, they need to raise them for another 2 months before they can harvest. Every day I go to the pond to check and take care of the shrimp to handle any unfavorable weather.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ha's family in Phong Hao hamlet, Hung Hoa commune has 1 hectare of pond. This year, the first crop of shrimp raised was killed by white spot disease in large numbers, all the effort and capital invested was not harvested. Currently, his family has been raising the second crop of shrimp for nearly 2 months. The recent impact of storm No. 3 caused heavy rains, changing the water environment, causing the shrimp to be shocked, eat less, grow slowly and show signs of illness. He is very worried because now it is the rainy season, but the shrimp will not be harvested for more than 1 month.

Shrimp farming is like gambling with the sky. If the shrimp are not affected by diseases and the weather is favorable, the profit is very high. However, shrimp farming is also very risky, especially from the weather and diseases.

Mr. Duong Xuan Tham - Head of the Hung Hoa Commune Agriculture Board said: Currently, Hung Hoa has 90 hectares of shrimp farming for the second crop, mainly white-leg shrimp and tiger shrimp. Tiger shrimp takes 4 months to harvest, white-leg shrimp is faster, about 2-3 months to harvest. With the current market price reaching about 150 million VND/ha, after deducting costs, farmers have a profit of 60-80 million VND/ha of shrimp.

To cope with the storms, many households harvested shrimp earlier than expected. Some other households proactively built concrete pond banks or bought tarpaulins to protect the banks of shrimp ponds, avoiding soil erosion during heavy rains. Households also proactively stored saltwater in settling pond systems to supplement the ponds when it rained heavily, reducing the salinity of the ponds. Shrimp farmers this season also prepared lime powder to fertilize the ponds when there was heavy rain to prevent diseases caused by changes in the water environment. Antibiotics must also be fully prepared.

Thanh Tam