Quynh Luu has a bumper shrimp harvest.

(Baonghean) - Normally, the second shrimp farming season is quite uncertain each year due to frequent rain and floods. However, this year, the weather has been quite favorable for shrimp farming throughout the second season. Although the harvest wasn't uniform, overall, farmers still made a profit.

Shrimp harvesting in Quynh Thanh commune (Quynh Luu district).

Quynh Bang commune has 186.2 hectares of shrimp farming area, including 100 hectares of industrial shrimp farming and 86.2 hectares of Loc Thuy Cooperative, the largest in Quynh Luu district. The second shrimp crop has reached 70% of the area. Mr. Hoang Xuan Tin, from Mai Giang hamlet, Quynh Bang, couldn't hide his joy at the assured success of the second crop. To date, his family's 3 hectares of shrimp have yielded 10 tons of commercial shrimp, averaging 80 shrimp per kilogram, selling at 150,000 VND per kilogram, bringing in 1.5 billion VND. He still has 10 tons of shrimp in the pond yet to be sold. Mr. Tin said he is waiting for the price to rise further before selling the second batch, expecting even higher prices when the shrimp reach 60 shrimp per kilogram.

The projected total shrimp harvest for the second crop is 20 tons. At current prices, the minimum revenue would be 3 billion VND, with a net profit of approximately 1.3 billion VND after deducting input costs. From this success, Mr. Tin realized the crucial importance of pond water quality, which determines the success of the farming season. Learning from previous years, this season his family only farmed 3 hectares, dedicating 2 hectares to settling ponds to pump water from the river for filtration and storage, ensuring a clean water source for regular water changes in the main ponds, every 10-20 days. As a result, the pond water environment remains clean, and the shrimp are developing steadily. Currently, the unharvested shrimp, after more than 100 days of farming, are healthy and growing rapidly.

Mr. Nguyen Khac Duc (Chi Thanh hamlet, Quynh Bang commune) is also a successful shrimp farmer this year. With an area of ​​2 hectares, the first crop yielded nearly 20 tons, resulting in a net profit of approximately 1.7 billion VND. In the second crop, his family continued to raise shrimp in 4 ponds, and has already harvested 3 ponds, yielding over 8 tons, with an expected profit of around 600 million VND. Mr. Duc's experience lies in carefully managing the ponds and regularly taking shrimp samples to aquatic product quarantine stations and seed companies for health checks. This allows for disease control and timely prevention and treatment. Mr. Vu Van Duong – an agricultural and construction officer in Quynh Bang commune – stated that the entire commune is estimated to harvest 280 tons of shrimp in the second crop. Currently, the second shrimp crop is almost harvested. Aside from ponds affected by disease, many households have reaped substantial profits, and some have already started raising shrimp for the third crop. In 2014, the projected harvest for Quynh Bang commune is approximately 880 tons of commercial shrimp, generating a value of 80 billion VND.

In Quynh Thanh commune, there are a total of 75 hectares of shrimp farms. The projected total shrimp harvest for 2014 is 580-600 tons, valued at approximately 70 billion VND. In the second crop of 2014, Mr. Tran Van Thuong's family in Hamlet 14 released nearly 2 million shrimp fry, but due to slow growth, they had to sell them after 60 days. They harvested over 10 tons of shrimp, selling them at 110,000 VND/kg, earning over 1.1 billion VND. "This crop only yielded a profit of about 200 million VND, but that's still a success," Mr. Thuong confided. The shrimp farming area in Quynh Luu district in the second crop of 2014 reached 335 hectares. Thanks to favorable weather, farmers strictly adhering to the farming schedule, and carefully caring for the shrimp, the production met the set targets. To date, although the harvest is not yet complete, based on the farming results of each household in the communes, it is estimated that the total shrimp production for the second crop will reach 900 tons.

Quynh Lan