The price of red tilapia farmed in cages/rafts on Tiền river (of Tiền Giang province) rises after Tet Holiday, farmers earn profits.
Khoa, a red tilapia farmer in Thới Sơn commune of Mỹ Tho city, said that the price of red tilapia ranged between 47,000 and 48,000 dong/kg, up 6,000-7,000 dong/kg from last year. Farmers were earning about 5,000 dong/kg profit after production costs.
Khoa has ten cages/rafts of red tilapia and some other commercial fishes such as catfish and crystal-eyed catfish. He has just harvested about 20 tons of commercial red tilapia and earned about 120 million dong profit.
Mỹ Tho city with the Tiền river running through has favorable conditions of raising freshwater species in cages/rafts, bringing in a main source of livelihood for local farmers. The city has 670 cages/rafts, 63.480 m3 in total, where red tilapia are mainly cultured, producing 5,000-6,000 tons per year, mostly in Tân Long ward of Thới Sơn commune.
Thới Sơn commune has 585 cages/rafts on Tiền river. Fish is harvested after 7-8 months of stocking when they weigh up to 800gr-1kg each. About 8-10 tons of fish are produced in each cage/raft on average every year. Due to the rise of red tilapia price, local farmers are investing into intensive farming models to improve productivity and the quality of commercial fish so that they can meet the requirement of consumers in the province and from other provinces.
VFM
