The effectiveness of the farm growing squash above and raising specialty black apple snails below in Tan Ky

Mr. Ly's family's black apple snail farm in Xuan Huong hamlet, Huong Son commune gives visitors a sense of peace, because the farm owner cleverly utilizes the land along the surrounding creeks and streams to grow squash, water fern, water lilies, and then raise black apple snails underneath.

The original black apple snails were the natural snails that lived here. The limestone mountains along with the cool streams and creeks created a rich source of plankton for the snails to grow. On 8 sao of rice fields, which are actually mixed streams and ponds, for nearly 10 years now, Mr. Ly has been persistently raising snails and currently, the snail farm is growing and developing.

A corner of Mr. Pham Van Ly's specialty black apple snail farm in Huong Son commune (Tan Ky). Photo: Tran Chau

Black apple snails have very good food values for health. According to Oriental medicine documents, black apple snails are a food containing a lot of calcium, nutritious, good for bones, help strengthen bones, support and develop height. Snail meat has a sweet taste, cold properties, has many effects on health, increases vitality.

Mr. Ly raises snails from natural fruits in his garden. Photo: Tran Chau

Realizing the value of snails and the market demand, nearly ten years ago, Mr. Pham Van Ly focused on cleaning ponds and creeks, growing duckweed, planting squash, jackfruit, etc., and started to experiment with snail farming. He planted squash gardens full of fruit, cut ripe jackfruit from the trees, sliced them, and fed them to the snails.

The farm is located in a mountainous commune, with many obstacles in transportation. Mr. Ly had to study books and combine practical experience to gradually breed snails in ponds. Over time, his farm has become a stable supplier of commercial snails to restaurants and eateries in the area. Every year, he releases 20,000 breeds, harvesting nearly 4 tons of commercial snails.

Every day, Mr. Ly slices squash to feed baby snails and meat snails. He also buys squash from local people to serve 8 farming fields. Photo: Tran Chau

Gently drop the net into the water lily pond, duckweed pond, lift it up and dozens of kilos of snails are stuck in the net. The yellow-brown, shiny black snails are clinging to the slices of squash. Snails are clean animals, eating natural food, so Mr. Ly takes advantage of the fruit trees in the garden to raise snails. With fresh air, surrounded by hills, clean and stable water source from high mountains, Mr. Ly has a quality snail farm, producing natural black apple snails, firm, fragrant meat that is favored by consumers.

In addition to selling snail meat, Mr. Pham Van Ly also breeds snail eggs to supply to households. Photo: Tran Chau

Mr. Pham Van Ly said: Every year, he sells more than 2 tons of meat snails, the price at the farm is 70,000 - 80,000 VND/kg. The snails are consumed in Tan Ky, Vinh city, and other provinces. There are times when customers buy a ton of meat snails, and sell all of them. In addition to selling meat snails, he also breeds snails himself to sell to people in need in the area. Apple snail eggs are white, sold by the cup. One cup is about 400 snails, 10 cups are 4,000 snails, sometimes a snail can lay 2 kg of eggs a day and provide them to farmers in need. If there is a little surplus, he releases them into the pond. From selling seeds, each year Mr. Ly earns an additional 4-5 million VND.

The snails have a high hatching rate and grow quickly. The snails' food is hydroponic duckweed, sliced luffa, cereals, and rice bran. He releases natural food into the snail nursery pond and the snails cling to luffa and duckweed to eat and grow. After about 4-5 months, they can be harvested.

“Food for snails is very important. I have to grow many fruit trees in the garden to feed the snails, especially squash. I limit buying outside to both ensure food safety for the snails and proactively handle pathogens for the snails,” said Mr. Ly.

Video clip: Pearl

From Mr. Ly's original farm, up to now, in Huong Son commune, a number of households have been established to raise black apple snails such as Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, Cao Xuan Tai, Le Van Ca, Nguyen Ba Quy... Each household chooses one person as the group leader, the rest are group members, supporting each other in techniques, markets, breeds... To have a proactive food source for snails, households also sign contracts to buy squash from local people, creating more output for agricultural products and income for the people.

With many values, snails sell quite well in beer bars and restaurants. Photo: Tran Chau

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung - Vice Chairman of Huong Son Commune People's Committee said: Black apple snails are a specialty of Tan Ky, living in mountain streams, sensitive to the environment so they are increasingly scarce. With diligence, perseverance to overcome difficulties, and strive to get rich, households in the commune, notably Mr. Pham Van Ly's farm, have successfully raised black apple snails, in addition to providing technical support to households who want to start a business, opening up new business directions for people. Black apple snails in Huong Son eat natural food so they have high nutritional content, are not affected by diseases, the commune is building black apple snails into an OCOP product of the commune in 2023.

Contact address: Mr. Pham Van Ly, Xuan Huong hamlet, Huong Son commune, Tan Ky

Phone: 033. 5533157