Digging trenches to raise specialty black apple snails in Tra Vinh, selling them for 120,000 VND/kg

Mr. Nguyen Thach Ranl (Secretary of the Youth Union of Rach Dui Hamlet, Ninh Thoi Commune, Cau Ke District) earns over 250 million VND/ha/year from the 3-star OCOP product of yellow rice longan.

Not only enthusiastic and active in local Youth Union movements, Mr. Nguyen Thach Ranl also helps many local Youth Union members develop a model of growing longan with golden rice that meets VietGAP certification, earning over 200 million VND/ha/year.

Sharing about his family's economic model, Mr. Ranl said: in 2014, in the face of the dragon's broom disease causing damage to longan trees; he personally visited and learned about the yellow rice longan variety of gardeners in Ben Tre, Soc Trang... and found it effective, so he decided to convert 1 hectare of old garden to grow yellow rice longan (about 300 longan trees).

Because the selling price of longan is quite high (ranging from 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg) and the average yield is 10 - 12 tons/ha; in addition, the investment and care costs are not high, so the economic efficiency is from 20,000 - 22,000 VND/kg of longan.

To increase the efficiency of longan trees, Mr. Ranl also implemented the model of "taking short-term to support long-term" by intercropping kumquat trees (almond trees) in the gaps between longan trees; on average, he earned about 20 million VND/year from kumquat fruit.

Also according to Mr. Nguyen Thach Ranl, from the effectiveness of the family's golden rice longan growing model, he has guided and supported 10 youth union members in the hamlet to grow longan with an area of over 3 hectares, and has built a Golden Rice Longan Growing Cooperative Group with 13 members/3 hectares. In 2023, it was certified as VietGAP and the District People's Committee recognized it as a 3-star OCOP product.

Mr. Le Minh Tu, Secretary of the Youth Union of Chanh Hoi A Hamlet, Ngai Hung Commune, Tieu Can District, Tra Vinh Province, improves economic efficiency from the closed model of "raising apple snails + kitchen-dried apple snail products".

Đào rãnh nuôi ốc đặc sản đẻ cản chả kịp, anh nông dân Trà Vinh làm cách nào để bán 120.000 đồng/kg?- Ảnh 1.

Secretary of the Youth Union Le Minh Tu, Ngai Hung commune, Tieu Can district, Tra Vinh province with the model of raising apple snails in garden ditches.

Anh Tu shared: initially when building the model, he encountered many difficulties; with his determination, he continuously learned from friends, on the internet... so he gradually mastered the technique of raising apple snails and also connected to open an additional product of kitchen-smoked apple snails (in 2022) from the source of commercial snails at home.

It is known that Mr. Tu's snail farming model has now developed and expanded to an area of more than 1 hectare, combined with garden ditches (coconut gardens). On average, about 10 kg of snails are harvested every week with a selling price ranging from 45,000 - 50,000 VND/kg; bringing in an income of 20 - 25 million VND/year. Particularly for kitchen snails, about 150 kg are supplied to the market every year, with a selling price ranging from 110,000 - 120,000 VND/kg.

Through Mr. Tu's snail farming model, many young people in the commune have come to learn and gain experience.

Mr. Tu said: this is an effective model and suitable for the production time conditions of young people in rural areas; it does not require large investment capital and young people can take advantage of the available garden, pond and lake areas of their family to raise snails.

The food source of snails is also abundant, such as discarded leafy vegetables; duckweed; bran... Because the source of the seed is caught in garden ditches, outside the canals through natural reproduction, the successful breeding rate is over 95% combined with the breeding in the natural environment (in garden ditches, ponds, lakes...) helps the apple snails grow quickly and the snails reach large weights.

Through the activities of the Youth Union, Mr. Le Minh Tu has enthusiastically guided and helped the Youth Union members who want to develop snail farming. Currently, the hamlet has over 10 Youth Union members participating in snail farming, with a total area of nearly 05 hectares.

Source