Farmers "swimming in price storm"

Mr. Nguyen Huu Khai, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tran Hoi Commune, Tran Van Thoi District, shared: "Taking advantage of the freshwater area, in recent years, the commune has focused on developing suitable models of plants and animals, including the model of raising snakehead fish (51 hectares) and a fairly large area of growing colors. However, in 2022 and the first months of this year, the price of commercial snakehead fish decreased by 15-20 thousand VND/kg compared to the same period; the price of crops and agricultural products is also unstable. Meanwhile, input costs for production increased, greatly affecting income, profits as well as people's psychology. I hope that the authorities have policies to support people in agricultural production and strictly manage the price of agricultural materials, ensuring the right quality and price, helping people reduce input costs and increase profits in production".

Mr. Duong Van Ngoan (Kinh Cu Hamlet, Tran Hoi Commune, Tran Van Thoi District) said that for the past 2 years, the price of fish feed has increased, while the price of commercial goby fish is too cheap, 8 out of 10 farmers are losing money. "For me, to cope with the "price storm", I force my own breeding stock, buy feed from large dealers, combine multiple plants and multiple animals on the same area such as: raising goby fish, tilapia, and wild catfish; raising civets, frogs... Taking advantage of self-grown and self-raised food sources to serve the above models to reduce costs. Only by doing so can I make a profit", said Mr. Ngoan.

Mr. Duong Van Ngoan (standing in the middle) takes advantage of self-grown and self-raised food sources to serve the models to reduce production costs.

Similarly, due to the high prices of gasoline, electricity, and agricultural materials, people in saltwater areas who specialize in industrial shrimp farming and super-intensive shrimp farming are currently facing many difficulties in production. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Provincial Cooperative Union, said: "The Ca Mau Cooperative Union currently has 9 member cooperatives, the number of improved extensive and super-intensive shrimp ponds in the cooperative system is very large. However, currently about 70% of the pond area is abandoned, there is no capital for farming. The remaining 30% is maintained, recently there is a household that has successfully raised shrimp, shrimp size 40 pieces/kg, but only sold for 97 thousand VND/kg, while the investment cost to harvest 1 kg of shrimp is 82 thousand VND, after deducting costs, shrimp farmers do not make a profit; with this reality, people cannot continue to raise shrimp. To successfully raise a super-intensive shrimp pond, farmers are under a lot of pressure, because of the high risk, especially during the rainy season like now. However, even if farming is successful, farmers still do not make a profit, this is very unreasonable. Farmers are in a dilemma, because if they continue to raise shrimp, they are afraid of losing money, But if we stop, the bank loan interest rate will increase every day.

Currently, super-intensive shrimp farming households are facing difficulties due to the sharp decrease in commercial shrimp prices, while input costs are increasing.

Mr. Dinh Hieu Nghia, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that every year the Department Inspectorate establishes an Interdisciplinary Inspection Team to organize inspections of the quality and prices of agricultural materials, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. Since the beginning of the year, the unit has inspected 160 samples, with results for 89 samples, 64 of which are qualified and 13 of which are unqualified. Regarding price inspection, every year the Department Inspectorate of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with the Department of Finance Inspectorate to inspect the price posting on packaging and the correct price declaration at production facilities in the area. In general, prices and quality are relatively stable. "Regarding the issue of increasing prices of production materials, which farmers have been concerned about recently, the cause comes from fluctuations in domestic and foreign markets. We hope that farmers will wisely choose reputable and quality suppliers, combine cost reduction, and contribute to increasing efficiency and profits in production," Mr. Dinh Hieu Nghia informed.

To save themselves from the "price storm" and minimize the impact of rising agricultural material prices, according to recommendations from the authorities, farmers need to change their farming methods towards organic farming; take advantage of existing organic resources and agricultural products for production.

To reduce costs in raising snakehead fish, Mr. Thi Van Binh, Hamlet 3, Tran Hoi Commune, Tran Van Thoi District, self-bred snakehead fish for 1.5 hectares of farming area, and at the same time chose the method of low density farming, saving food, making fish grow quickly and effectively.

Regarding the sharp decline in raw shrimp prices, the provincial agricultural sector's leaders have chaired two conferences to assess the situation and propose solutions to help farmers stabilize shrimp farming, especially super-intensive shrimp farming. The province has proposed that the Central Government have policies on taxes and fees to reduce feed costs, or proposed that the Government have a credit package of about 10 trillion VND to support businesses purchasing and processing aquatic products. In addition, the province has also directed local banks to create favorable conditions for farmers to borrow capital with preferential interest rates so that farmers can maintain production. The provincial authorities also recommend that farmers pay attention to improved extensive farming in two stages to help reduce costs and increase shrimp farming productivity. At the same time, the sector will closely follow the market to inform farmers to grasp and access market information, have appropriate farming orientations for each period, ensuring effective farming and the highest profits./.

Loan Phuong

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