Farmers in Đồng Tháp Mười of Long An province are preparing for farming young pangasius as flood is slowly subsiding.
With much higher profit from young pangasius farming as compared to rice cultivation, farmers from Đồng Tháp Mười area (Tân Hưng, Vĩnh Hưng, Mộc Hóa, Tân Thạnh, Thạnh Hóa and Kiến Tường) are rearing young pangasius instead of planting rice. According to official statistics, more than 1,500 ha has been used for fish farming, with Tân Hưng spending 1,047 ha, Tân Thạnh 308 ha, and Vĩnh Hưng 93,5 ha. More farmers are interested in this system as fish price is rapidly increasing.
Vice Chairman of Vĩnh Hưng People’s committee Nguyễn Hữu Hồng said farmers have spent nearly 100 ha on fish farming with most of the land being officially planned like Lò Gạch, Cái Cỏ channel and Vàm Cỏ Tây river. Although farmers are encouraged to change plants and species, they have to assess market to avoid massive scale of fish farming, leading to supply over demand, economic damages, and bad impact on planning and natural environment.
Vice Chairman of Tân Thạnh People’s committee Nguyễn Trí Dũng said that local farmers spend over 300 ha on young pangasius farming instead of rice cultivation. Farmers are warned of high risks from this since they are not so good at farming technique, but they keep developing this system. Dũng says local authorities will review aquaculture development plan, carry out propaganda, technical training courses, environment monitoring, and control young fish quality. Farmers have to get approval from local authorities before using their land for aquaculture instead of rice cultivation.
VFM
