HCM City (VNA) -Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region have begun this year’s firstharvest season of brackish water shrimp, earning strong profits due to highprices and favourable breeding conditions.

The price of 30-piece-per-kilo size black tiger shrimp, which is bought atponds by traders, is 245,000-250,000 VND (10.6-10.8 USD) a kilo.  

Nguyen Duy Bao, who rotates growing shrimp and rice in a rice field in KienGiang province’s An Minh district, said “At this price, shrimp-rice rotatingfarmers can earn a profit that is equal to 60-70 percent of the production costof shrimp.”

In the early months of this year the weather was not severe as during the sameperiod of last year, so shrimp grew quickly, Bao said.

Farmers in Kien Giang have bred more than 102,000ha of shrimp in the firstthree months of the year, up 11 percent against the same period last year,according to the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.  

In Ca Mau province, which is the country’s largest shrimp producer, farmers whobegan breeding shrimp fries early this year have reaped their harvest.
  
Nguyen Van Thoa in Ca Mau province’s Phu Tan district has sold two ponds ofwhite-legged shrimp after three months of breeding and got a profit of 700million VND (30,400 USD).

Many farmers here have not bred shrimp this year because they were afraid ofsevere drought, salt water intrusion and poor harvest as last year, Thoa said.

This year, saline water intrusion in the delta occurred late and the salinityhas been low so many farmers are waiting for the proper time to release shrimpfries into ponds for breeding.

At present, the weather is hot, causing a high content of pH (potential ofhydrogen) in shrimp ponds or rapid growth of algae in shrimp ponds. This couldaffect the growth of shrimp.

Quach Thi Thanh Binh, deputy head of the Soc Trang province AquacultureSub-department, said farmers should regularly carry out water inspections aswell as heed the warning of competent agencies about shrimp diseases in orderto choose a proper time to put water into shrimp ponds.

Soc Trang will enter its main period for releasing shrimp fries into ponds forbreeding after May when the rainy season officially begins, according to theprovince’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The province’s shrimp breeding areas expect to increase as the price of shrimpis high this year, said the department.

Soc Trang farmers have harvested more than 1,000ha of shrimp with a total yieldof 4,153 tonnes so far this year.

Ngo Thanh Linh, General Secretary of the Ca Mau Association of SeafoodExporters and Producers, said most shrimp processors in Ca Mau are facing ashortage of shrimp material.

The supply of raw shrimp can only meet 40-50 percent of the demand of largeshrimp processing firms in the province, he said.

In addition, the third quarter of the year is the main shrimp export season somost domestic shrimp processors are buying more raw shrimp to ensure theirproduction.

The domestic supply of raw shrimp will not meet the demand of shrimp processorsin the coming time and the price of shrimp will remain high, Linh said.

The delta, which accounts for more than 80 percent of the country’s shrimpbreeding area, has raised more than 536,000ha of shrimp as of the end of lastmonth, up about 53,300ha against the same period last year.-VNA