Raising fish in salt fields in Dien Van

(Baonghean) -Originally an area of ​​inefficient salt production, thanks to bold conversion to aquaculture, many households in Dien Van - Dien Chau have now escaped poverty.

Following the winding road shaded by coconut trees, we found the largest aquaculture area of ​​Dien Van commune - Dien Chau. The vastness of freshwater and brackish water fish ponds are separated into beautiful checkerboard-like ponds. For generations, Dien Hai salt farmers have depended on the sea for their livelihood. From the salty drops of the ocean, along with their sweat and tears, people have condensed them into grains of salt to make a living. Sticking to the hard work, for generations, salt farmers have remained poor because the price of salt is too cheap. But now they have changed their lives from the salt fields of the past...

We visited the farm of Mr. Tran Ngoc Ha's family in Trung Phu hamlet. Mr. Ha said: When we received the policy of converting salt fields to aquaculture, specifically raising freshwater and brackish water fish, everyone immediately agreed. After the commune planned and allocated over 7,000 m2 of salt land, I had to plan my own suitable area. I can raise fish, raise pigs and ducks to increase my income.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Ha in Dien Van, Dien Chau feeds fish.

It is easy to say, but to dig a large fish pond is not easy, while the family has been making salt for generations without any capital. To "take the short term to support the long term", the couple first decided to invest in building a pig farm. While raising pigs, he also dug a pond to raise fish, after 5 months, he had dug 2 fish ponds. Luckily, in the first year of raising dozens of pigs, "good harvest", "good price" combined with the income from several fish ponds, he was able to save a little capital to hire an excavator to complete the pond system according to the plan. Up to this point, he is one of the largest investors in the fish farming area. The total area of ​​7,000 m2 of land has formed more than 5,000 m2 of fish ponds, divided into 4 ponds, investing in stone embankments for all ponds worth over 600 million VND. Each batch, he releases 250 - 300 kg of various types of fish, including grass carp, silver carp, tilapia, and catfish. The fish pond here is harvested alternately all year round. The revenue from fish alone is over 220 million VND/year. In addition, he also collects about 3 - 4 tons of pork/year, selling price is 40 million VND/ton, revenue is about 120 million VND. Total revenue is about 350 million VND/year. This year, Mr. Ha invested over 300 million VND to build a restaurant right on the fish farm, meeting customer demand with specialties available on the farm such as grilled fish, roasted duck, etc.

Next to that is the farm model of Mr. Nguyen Van Suu. Mr. Suu said: With an area of ​​5,500 m2, previously making salt, the income was unstable, only about 5 - 7 million VND/3 workers per year. In 2008, the family renovated the fish farming area on 3,000 m2 of water surface, divided into 3 ponds. The first year failed because this was originally a salt-making area, high tides flooded in and killed the fish. But I was not discouraged, focusing on continuing to renovate and raise the pond banks to prevent saltwater from entering. With a preferential loan of 16 million VND from the Policy Bank, I invested in buying fish fry to release. From producing 1-1.2 tons of fish per year, now I harvest over 5 tons of various types of fish per year. Fish feed is quite favorable, in addition to synthetic feed, freshwater fish such as sesame, grass carp, common carp, and grass carp also "love" available food sources such as grass, duckweed, banana, bran, etc. Total income from fish and livestock farming reaches over 200 million VND/year. The income is not very large but for salt farmers like us, that is enough to satisfy. In the freshwater fish farming area, there are many other households investing on a large scale to achieve large revenue such as Nguyen Kha's household investing in farming over 16,000 m2 of water surface, averaging 14-16 tons of fish/year.

In addition to freshwater fish farming, in Trung Hau hamlet - Dien Van, brackish water fish farming is also planned. Mr. Nguyen Van Suu - Chairman of Van Thanh Cooperative said: Previously, the brackish water fish farming area was used by some households to raise shrimp, however, due to the lack of water source and unstable shrimp seed source, it failed. Therefore, most households have switched to raising sea bass. From 2012 to 2014, there were 3 sea bass farming models supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Dien Chau District People's Committee with 90 million VND to buy fish seeds and food, in 2012 alone, Dien Chau district supported 50 million VND for 16 households to develop sea bass farming. With the support of the State and guidance of technical staff, sea bass farming in Dien Van has developed stably in recent years. Typically, Mr. Nguyen Lai's household raises about 1,500 fish on an area of ​​3,000 m2, after more than 7 months of raising, it has brought quite high economic efficiency, the output reaches 1.5 - 1.8 tons, sold at a price of 120,000 - 130 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, the profit is over 40 million VND. Mr. Quang Minh's household raises over 2,000 m2, releases over 1,800 fish, each harvest brings a profit of 35 - 40 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Suu added: Up to now, Van Thanh Cooperative has 62 households raising freshwater and brackish water fish, on a total area of ​​over 20 hectares, (of which 42 households raise brackish water fish, 20 households raise freshwater fish). The effectiveness of converting salt land to aquaculture is clear. Not only has it changed the backward and ineffective farming practices of the people, but it has also helped people improve labor productivity, creating a stable source of income every year, soon becoming a profession to enrich the people of Dien Van. However, there are still difficulties such as, currently, the water source for raising freshwater fish is seriously lacking, because it is located at the end of the source, farmers mainly have to "rely on the sky" otherwise, the freshwater will be scarce, causing a lack of water and the fish will die. When it rains, it is necessary to organize damming of Dien Hai spillway to get water into the fish farming area. For the freshwater fish farming area, people are in dire need of preferential loans from the State to expand the scale of production. In particular, the State needs to invest in building a canal system to take water from Dien Hai commune's floodwaters so that people can proactively source water for fish farming and feel secure in production.

Van Truong