"King of turtles" in Yen Thanh

(Baonghean) -Mr. Dao Van Khai in hamlet 3A, Tang Thanh commune - Yen Thanh is called by everyone as "king of soft-shell turtles". He is the first person to successfully raise soft-shell turtles on a large scale in the rice fields and after nearly 8 years of starting the business, the commercial soft-shell turtle farming profession has brought in revenue of nearly 2.1 billion VND/year. It is worth mentioning that in the movement to develop the economy to build new rural areas, he is the one who imparts the secret and helps over 100 soft-shell turtle farming households in Tang Thanh commune to escape poverty.

Previously, Mr. Dao Van Khai had worked all kinds of jobs but his life was still difficult all year round. In 2006, through the media, he saw that raising soft-shell turtles was effective, so he packed up and went to Hung Yen and then to Ha Tinh to visit and learn about the model. In 2007, he invested in renovating ponds and raising over 1,000 soft-shell turtles worth over 200 million VND. The first day he released soft-shell turtles into the pond, he was still worried. After taking care of them for nearly a year, the soft-shell turtles weighed nearly 1 kg each. Mr. Khai went to shops, restaurants, and specialty stores to ask for the price and was told it was 250,000 VND/kg of soft-shell turtle. Khai and his wife thought they would win big and have money to pay the bank, but unexpectedly, the soft-shell turtles suddenly started dying, 15-20 of them dying each day for no apparent reason. After that, he had to ask experts to come and check for the disease, and finally found out that the reason the turtles died was because the turtles bought in Hung Yen were not suitable for the climate conditions of his hometown, and he had no experience in raising them, they were too dense, and the water source was not clean. That time, over 500 turtles died in the pond.

Mr. Dao Van Khai next to the turtle pond.

Stuck in the loss of turtle farming, his wife was discouraged and suggested that he switch to fish farming, but Dao Van Khai was determined to follow the path he had chosen. After a period of research, Khai continued to borrow money to buy turtle breeds. This time, following the advice of experienced people, he traveled to Ha Tinh to buy the breeds, because the climate in the same area would be suitable for Yen Thanh land. Luckily, the owner of the turtle farm in Ha Tinh was very enthusiastic in teaching him the secret and promised to take care of the output.

In 2008, Mr. Khai continued to release over 1,000 soft-shell turtles on 600 m2. Thanks to raising them according to the correct technical process, he won big, getting about 650 kg of soft-shell turtles, selling them for 250,000 VND/kg, with a revenue of over 162 million VND. He invested the profit to upgrade and expand the pond, a total of 4 ponds over 1,300 m2, all pond banks were paved with stones, fences were built to prevent theft, and water hyacinth was planted above to provide shade. Soft-shell turtles take 2 years to harvest, to increase efficiency, he implemented "intercropping" farming, releasing the seeds in many batches during the year to sell all year round to restaurants and hotels. Every year there was a good season for soft-shell turtles. In 2013 alone, Mr. Khai released over 1,200 turtles, averaging 700 kg, with a market price of 300,000 VND/kg and a revenue of 210 million VND.

According to Mr. Khai, raising soft-shell turtles is both easy and difficult. To raise soft-shell turtles that grow quickly and have a high survival rate, it is necessary to follow the correct technical process. Before releasing the seeds, it is necessary to prepare a pond to ensure clean water. Release the seeds early to take advantage of raising them during the months with the most suitable growth temperature, the most suitable is to release them from March and April of the year. The seed size is from 100-200g/snake. In a pond of the same size, choose healthy soft-shell turtles that do not carry pathogens. Soft-shell turtle feed can be divided into 3 main types: fresh animal feed, dry animal feed, processed feed or industrial feed. Among the above types of feed, Mr. Khai mainly buys trash fish in the Dien Chau sea area, mixed with bran and banana vegetables. In addition to raising commercial soft-shell turtles, he also raises spiny soft-shell turtles (wild soft-shell turtles). This type of wild soft-shell turtle is rare and expensive, and can only buy 2-3 at a time. The characteristic of the spiny soft-shelled turtle is that it grows quickly, can reach a weight of 5 kg, and is sold for 600,000 VND/kg. Currently, the pond has over 50 spiny soft-shelled turtles that are ready to be sold. The technique for raising spiny soft-shelled turtles is not too complicated, if raised in a separate tank, it is even better, with a density of 3-4 turtles/m2. Spiny soft-shelled turtles are suitable for shrimp, prawns, worms, frogs, toads, snails, fish and are fed 1-2 meals/day.

To take the initiative in the source of breeds, he also learned the profession of hatching turtle eggs. He went to Ha Tinh to buy turtle eggs to try hatching them. When the hatching rate reached 80-90%, he opened an additional business of breeding turtles. According to Mr. Khai, to hatch well, you need to have an incubation room in the house. Egg incubation tools usually use trays, aluminum pots, enameled iron or plastic, each aluminum pot can incubate from 200-300 eggs, the incubation pot contains fine, moist and porous sand. Incubation period of over 50 days, the most important thing is to keep the temperature and humidity of the incubation sand stable. Every 1-2 days, the sand layer on the surface evaporates and dries, it is necessary to spray water to return it to normal humidity. When the turtles hatch, choose healthy ones that have "lost their umbilical cords" to put in the breeding tank. Being proactive in the source of breeds should be enough to supply many households raising turtles in Tang Thanh commune. Each year, hatching turtle eggs also creates an additional income of over 100 million VND. Currently, Mr. Dao Van Khai's soft-shell turtle farm creates jobs for 10 workers with a salary of 4 million VND/person/month.

Mr. Le Van Tue - Chairman of Tang Thanh Commune People's Committee excitedly said: What is admirable about Mr. Dao Van Khai is that in addition to ensuring quality, he always instructs the breeders on techniques and experience in raising soft-shell turtles. Not only that, he also spends time and effort going to many households starting a business to guide them from planning, pond digging techniques to raising and releasing soft-shell turtles. Up to now, the whole Tang Thanh commune has over 100 households raising soft-shell turtles with a scale of 300-400 turtles, many of which have risen out of poverty and even become rich. To improve the lives of the people, Tang Thanh commune is encouraging farmers to promote their potential in raising soft-shell turtles.

Van Truong