Raising densely packed loach fish, they take the bait and thrash around loudly. A Tay Ninh man caught and sold them for 220,000 VND/kg.

Mr. Nguyen Van Giau (57 years old) grew up in poverty. The border area where he was born and raised, Thanh Phuoc Hamlet, Thanh Binh Commune, Tan Bien District, Tay Ninh Province, is considered a barren wasteland, making it difficult to grow animals and plants. However, after only six years from 2017 to 2023, Mr. Giau has become rich from raising loach fish on floating ponds.

With one hectare of barren land, in 2017, Mr. Giau spent all his assets and borrowed an additional 60 million VND to buy fish fry. However, with the geography and soil completely different from the Southwest region, Mr. Giau had to dig up the topsoil (30-40 cm) in Tan Bien and then use this soil to build a dike (from the bottom of the pond to the top of the dike about 1.2m-1.5m).

Above the floating pond and the embankment, Mr. Giau covered it with thick plastic tarps to prevent water seepage; inside the pond there is a fan system to create water flow and increase oxygen. With 5,000 loach fry (under 10cm) for testing at 10,000 VND/fish; each fish is 4-10cm long, Mr. Giau feeds the fish with high-protein industrial pellets.

After a month of care, the fish grew, Mr. Giau used industrial pellets, increasing the amount of food according to the growth of the fish. "On average, 3kg of food will produce 1kg of commercial loach," Mr. Giau said.

Mr. Nguyen Van Giau, a farmer in Thach Binh commune, Tan Bien district, Tay Ninh province, has become rich from raising loach fish on floating ponds.

Sharing more experience in raising fish, he said he changes the water in the fish pond once a week, mixes in vitamins and some minerals into the fish food to increase resistance and help the fish gain weight quickly and get sick less often.

Around the time of Lunar New Year, Mr. Giau chooses parent fish of standard size to raise the first batch in separate ponds with suitable density and high nutritional food; by March, the fish can reproduce.

Mr. Giau said: "Since 2021, I have successfully started breeding loach with a quantity of several hundred thousand fish/batch, healthy fry, supplying many households in need inside and outside the province. In 2022, I was introduced by the Commune Farmers' Association to access capital from the Tan Bien District Social Policy Bank to borrow an additional 100 million VND to invest in four more ponds, expanding the area for raising more parent fish.

Currently, I have overcome the disadvantages of selecting parent fish of the right age, pairing techniques, egg-sperm harvesting, mating, incubation, and raising fry (rearing environment, care, proactive natural food sources for fry)..., the hatching rate of loach is high, reaching nearly 90%".

According to the Tan Bien District Farmers' Association, after about seven months of raising, the loach fish in Mr. Giau's model can be sold as large fish (300-350g/fish) for more than 200,000 VND/kg; the longer the fish are raised, the larger their weight and the higher the selling price.

And depending on the market, long-term farmed fish can be fattened and sold for a high price when the market is scarce. Typically, in the last farming season, after 12 months, Mr. Giau harvested 3,500 commercial loach fish, weighing more than 1.5 kg/fish, sold for 220,000 VND/kg, earning 330 million VND.

The pond model is also made in the rubber garden, so when changing the water, just open the drain valve to water the rubber garden, helping the trees grow well all year round and reducing the amount of fertilizer for the plants while still ensuring productivity.

Having succeeded in raising loach fish on floating ponds, Mr. Giau sold the breed and paid in installments, always ready to share secrets and experiences with people near and far to get rich together on his homeland.

According to Vice Chairman of Tan Bien District Farmers' Association Nguyen Van Ut, the model of raising loach in floating ponds lined with tarpaulin has been considered a new profession, a new direction in freshwater aquaculture, bringing farmers hundreds of millions of VND in profits per year.

The model of raising loach fish is suitable for the trend of agricultural production towards diversity, sustainability, easy to apply, suitable for rural households with little production land, low investment capital, high economic efficiency, helping farmers increase income on the same unit of production area.

Along with that, environmental efficiency, due to saving water, minimizing environmental pollution waste due to less use of drugs and chemicals in the farming process, suitable for current climate change adaptation conditions. And farmer Nguyen Van Giau is truly enriching himself, his family, society and enriching the personality of Tay Ninh people.

Source: https://danviet.vn/nuoi-ca-chach-lau-day-dac-dop-moi-toi-toi-quay-am-am-mot-nguoi-tay-ninh-bat-ban-220000-dong-kg-2024052317004751.htm