At a farm in Tien Giang province. (Photo: VNA) Cai Lay, Cai Be and Tan Phuoc districts and the town of Cai Lay have bred morethan 3,200ha of freshwater fish such as tra fish, snakehead fish, climbingperch, carps, bighead catfish and tilapia so far this year, according to theprovincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The upstream localities also have hundreds of floating cages for breeding fishin the Tien River, a tributary of the Mekong River.
The floating cages breed mostly red tilapia, bighead catfish and tra fish.
The breeding of freshwater fish has offered high production efficiency forfarmers and helped restore freshwater aquatic resources in the delta, accordingto the department.
To increase the efficiency of freshwater aquaculture and improve income forfarmers, the department, in co-operation with localities, is teaching farmerstechniques of breeding fish and reproducing fish seeds.
The department is also introducing and expanding effective freshwateraquaculture models to farmers.
It is also upgrading irrigation works to create favourable conditions forfreshwater aquaculture development.
Localities have developed concentrated aquaculture areas for producing seeds offreshwater fish species, which are sold to farmers in the province and thesouthern region.
Cai Lay, for instance, has established a concentrated aquaculture area forproducing seeds of freshwater fish species in Tan Hoi commune.
Concentrated aquaculture areas for producing seeds of ornamental fish specieshave also been developed in Cai Lay’s My Thanh Nam, My Thanh Bac communes, andCai Be district’s My Hoi commune and Hau My Bac A commune.
Nguyen Van Truoc in Hau My Bac A commune has 30ha for producing seeds of trafish, carps and ornamental fish species.
He produces about 25-30 tonnes of fish seeds a year and earns billions of donga year, he said.
Hau My Bac A has hundreds of hectares of aquaculture area devoted to producingfish seeds, making it the province’s largest freshwater fish seed producer.
The production of freshwater aquaculture in the Tien River’s upstreamlocalities has offered a profit many times higher than growing rice and issuitable for farmers who have small farmland, according to the department.
It has also adapted to climate changes and flooding situations in the upstreamlocalities, helping many farmers escape poverty and have stable lives, said thedepartment.
The province has encouraged farmers to breed aquatic species to goodagricultural practices (GAP) standards to meet the requirements of domestic andexport markets./.
VNA
