Farmer Đỗ Văn Hoài in Nam Phú commune of Tiền Hải, Thái Bình is one of pioneers in oyster farming in brackish water with high economic efficiency. His model is attractive to another 13 households who are now engaging in commercial oyster farming.
In 2018, realizing that the brackish water in Nam Phú may be a good environment for oyster farming, Hoài decided to visit some oyster farms in Nam Định and Ninh Bình to learn farming techniques. Coming back to his hometown, he invited an expert for technical support. Hoài said: “Rearing oysters in brackish water is more difficult than in saltwater because farmers have to hire an expert to survey”.
Selecting qualified broodstocks is the first difficulty. Fortunately, Hoài connected with a facility specialized in producing oyster broodstocks in Ninh Bình.
As he reared oysters in the brackish water estuary, it didn’t cost him a penny for feed. He designed a 600m2 raft and frequently checked the water to learn about the time when oysters eat and don’t eat so that he could determine the harvest time.
In the first year, he stocked 200 thousand oyster seeds which weighed up well after 16-18 months. He collected 7-9kg of oyster from each rope and sold that at 11,000 dong/kg.
The oysters that are processed or taken apart from the shells can be sold at 20,000-25,000 dong/kg. He achieved great success in 2020 when selling nearly 800 tons of commercial oysters and bringing in more than 7 billion dong. He earned nearly 3 billion profit after costs.
He worked with other 13 households to rear oysters in 40 rafts on the 5km surface water with nearly 70,000 ropes. In his opinion, oysters reared in brackish water are tastier than the ones in saltwater, thus they are sold better.
Phạm Văn Tuệ, Secretary of the Communist Party of Nam Phú commune said that Đỗ Văn Hoài’s model of oyster farming has brought a high economic efficiency. This is also a model of economic growth that Nam Phú will multiply in the future.
VFM
