Enjoying many favorable conditions in terms of climate and abundant cold water source for sturgeon farming, Tùng Vài commune (Quan Ba) has experimented with the sturgeon farming model, which is expected to open a new economic development path for the Bố Y ethnic group here.
Ponds of the Bố Y cooperative group are built from above through dams and a system of water pipes, allowing the water source to circulate continuously and provide the necessary amount of oxygen for fish. Mr. Ngũ Chính Phú (Bản Thăng village, Tùng Vài commune) said that the model initially stocked about 3,000 fingerlings with a survival rate of 80%. The selling price ranged from 250,000 VND/kg and more. The fish was partly sold to local restaurants and towards tourists. It was necessary to remove the waste in the farming area and clean the pond on a regular basis (20 -30 days) so that fish did not catch bacteria and grew well. If the fish grew well, they would gain a profit of about 400 million VND/year.
Tùng Vài commune enjoys favorable natural conditions such as the difference in temperature between winter and summer is not as high as other places and a large number of static water areas with stable water sources, which facilitates the farming of coldwater fish such as sturgeon. It takes more than 70 million VND to build a model of sturgeon farming, including building fish ponds, fish stocking tanks, dams, fingerlings, water pumps, fish feed, and so on. In which, the government supports 500 million VND, and farmers invest in facilities to perfect the fish farming model.
Mr. Thào Mí Chứ, Deputy Head of the Ethnic Minority Department of Quản Bạ district, said: “The sturgeon farming model in Tùng Vại commune is supported 500 million VND according to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 2086/QD-TTg on the approval of the project on supporting the socio-economic development of ethnic minority groups in the 2016-2025 period. After consideration, the local government has provided finance for 12 Bố Y ethnic households in Bản Thăng village to build a coldwater fish farming model. After nearly 2 years of implementation, the model initially shows economic efficiency and the possibility to expand the development scale.
Bản Thăng is a border village of Tùng Vài commune, with 6 ethnic groups, including 19 Bố Y ethnic households. The whole village has 141 households with 21% of poor households and 28% of near-poor households. Despite enjoying a natural water source that is favorable for coldwater fish farming, people here cannot fully take the advantage of the locality to make them into commodities. Therefore, the sturgeon farming model is considered as a new path to gradually transfer from small farming to intensive fish farming, making coldwater fish farming into a commodity production industry with high incomes to enhance the lives of people here.
