Instead of a spontaneous farming model, the Cooperative of fish cage farming in Tịnh Sơn commune of Sơn Tịnh district, Quảng Ngãi province is conducting further investment, improving techniques, and earning another 65% of profit.
Change into steady inox cages
The Cooperative of fish cage farming in Tịnh Sơn commune of Sơn Tịnh district, Quảng Ngãi province was established in 2018 with an aim to connect local farmers in production.
Farmer Đinh Quang Tiến in Tịnh Sơn commune of Sơn Tịnh district has been devoting himself into fish cage farming in Trà Khúc river for 26 years. Tens of years back, his family spontaneously installed two fish cages which produced about 200 pcs, resulting in low profit. When participating in the Cooperative in 2018, he was provided with a loan and started to change into steady inox cages.
Being instructed in the techniques of selecting baby fish and taking care of the fish, Tiến has installed four inox cages which are now filled with 450-500 fishes. Selling grass carps at 120,000 dong/kg and eel fish at 600,000 dong/kg, he earns nearly 100 million dong after production cost.
“Fish cage farming in rivers brings in much more profit than rice cultivation or animal husbandry of cows or pigs. Babay eel fish are wild-caught. Feed are grass and fresh species from nature. That explains why profit is high”. His four cages are stocked with 500 grass carps and eels.
Farmer Lê Tấn Kiều in Tịnh Sơn commune, who has spent 14 years on fish cage farming in Trà Khúc river, eagerly said that since participation in the Cooperative, he has had four inox cages (it was two before).
The longer farming, the higher profit
Kiều stocks eel fish in his four cages and earns 75-80 million dong after production cost every year. In his opinion, the high-resistance eel rarely is infected with diseases and this kind of species is affordable and only takes his spare time.
Feed is simple. Grass carps eat grasses, corns and cassava leaves while eels eat the same feed plus fresh species such as small fish and tilapia. The longer the farming is, the higher profit it is. It takes 1-2 years for grass carp to weigh up to over 2.5 kg each and 2-3 years for eels to weigh up to 4-5 kg each; then they will be sold well and bring in high profit.
As the fish cage farming model in rivers has been proved effective, more and more local households in Tịnh Sơn engage in this sector. The commune has not 52 households related to this model with over 110 cages being installed. With an aim to change the production method and develop the fish cage farming in the direction of commercial production, the Cooperative of fish cage farming in Tịnh Sơn commune has been established since 2018. There are 29/52 households participating in the Cooperative.
Cooperative members are provided with loans, training courses, and transferred with techniques and processes of rearing fish in cages, selecting fish fries and making cages that can survive the flood season.
From 94 cages owned by 29 members, the Cooperative earns over 2.6 billion dong revenue and 1.7 billion dong profit after production cost. Farmers related to fish cage farming earn over 1.4 million dong/ month each. They only spend their free time in early morning or late afternoon after finishing their main work of the day.
VFM
