Having done many jobs to earn a living but not being successful, Mr. Do Ba Duy (Dam Khanh Tay village, Yen Binh ward, Tam Diep city) returned to his hometown to raise stuffed snails and had a high income. In particular, from snails, Duy makes stuffed snail patties in bamboo tubes with an extremely attractive flavor.
Success after 2 failures
When you go to Yen Binh ward, Tam Diep city, ask for directions to Do Ba Duy's snail farm, almost everyone knows, enthusiastically gives directions and calls him by the affectionate name "Duy snail stuffing". This is enough to show the effect and spread of the model in the locality.
Arriving there, following Duy to visit a farm of more than 2 hectares, from the hatchery area, through the snail breeding area, commercial snails... was enough to make us out of breath. Taking a break, drinking a cup of tea, Duy confided: Before, he had worked in many different jobs but never thought of returning to agriculture. Unexpectedly, one time in Tuyen Quang province, he learned about the model of raising stuffed snails and the very special snail sausage, he was immediately attracted to this adopted product.
In 2019, with his parents' fields and ponds, he bought 20,000 snails to try releasing them, but because he did not have a firm grasp of the techniques, he failed for two consecutive years. After raising them for a while, the snails got sick and died, floating all over the water. The "tuition" each time was tens of millions of dong, although he was a bit sad and disappointed, Duy was not discouraged. He packed his bags and traveled to large and small farms from the south to the north to learn more techniques.
By the third year, Do Ba Duy had focused on handling the farming environment well by draining all the water in the pond, cleaning the duckweed and grass; using biological products to treat the pond bottom, then releasing the seeds. During the farming and care process, Duy used only moss, duckweed, grass, cassava leaves, luffa leaves... from nature to feed the snails in just the right amount, to avoid excess, causing pollution to the pond environment.
In addition to managing food and the pond environment, Duy also pays great attention to taking care of snails in the hot and cold seasons and managing diseases. According to him, apple snails are quite easy to raise, but there are two diseases that need special attention: swollen spout and intestinal diseases. These diseases cause mass deaths, so ponds must be monitored regularly. If you observe that snails show signs of not eating, have swollen spouts, or have a foul odor, you need to isolate them immediately for treatment to avoid spreading.
Thanks to grasping and applying the farming methods and techniques systematically and strictly, Duy has continuously achieved success since the third year. With profits, he continued to invest in expanding production. From the initial 2 ponds, Duy's model has now expanded to 2 hectares. In 2022, his farm brought to the market 3 tons of commercial snails and 1 million snail seeds, after deducting expenses, earning a profit of more than 200 million VND.
Linking, deep processing
Conquering and mastering snail farming techniques, without stopping, Do Ba Duy continued to wonder how to increase product value and have a more sustainable consumer market.
He shared: If we only sell whole fresh snails, they will not be preserved for long and are difficult to transport, so we are extremely passive and dependent on customers. Therefore, there is only one way to process the snails deeply. So I researched, searched, found the formula, invested in modern machinery and equipment to produce bamboo tube stuffed snail patties, packaged in small, compact packages in the form of frozen food. These snail patties include snail meat, minced pork, spices such as chili, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, shiitake mushrooms, green pepper, good quality fish sauce, etc. All are mixed in a predetermined ratio to form patties, then stuffed into bamboo tubes to form beautiful patties.
Although it has just been introduced to the market, thanks to its delicious taste, being produced according to a closed process, ensuring food hygiene and safety, and having full labels, Do Ba Duy's snail sausage products have been positively received by the market. To expand production, in early 2023, Do Ba Duy established the Ninh Binh Snail Cooperative to connect snail farmers in the province, focusing on deep processing of snail products. In the first 6 months of the year, the Cooperative has produced, processed and supplied more than 200 kg of sausage to the market.
Talking about the model, Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of Tam Diep City, said: Snails are currently popular in the market. While the farming technique is not too difficult, the investment capital is low, and Tam Diep currently has many low-lying rice fields, suitable for snail development. Therefore, in the coming time, the city will encourage the expansion of the model. In addition, it will accompany and support the Cooperative and Do Ba Duy to develop snail sausage into an OCOP product, thereby completing a closed and sustainable commodity value chain for this pet.
Article and photos: Nguyen Luu
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