Farming of all-male blue-legged prawns proves high economic value

The model of all-male blue-legged prawns farming combined with fish breeding and coconut planting, has adapted well to climate change, bringing in an income of more than VND100 million/ha/crop.

All-male blue-legged prawns are raised in extensive ponds, fed with fruits, vegetables and industrial feed for gradual harvest. Photo: LHV.

Environmental friendly 

The Agricultural Service Center (ASC) in Can Tho City( (formerly the Agricultural Extension Center of Can Tho City) has recently supported farmers in Vinh Thanh District to raise all-male blue-legged prawns in extensive ponds feeding them with fruits, vegetables, and industrial foods for gradual harvest. This model helps farmers not only grow quickly and save costs but also sell at a higher price thanks to high-quality shrimp.

All-male shrimp farming helps improve product quality compared to mixed farming of male and female shrimp.

Mr. Mai Nam, Deputy Director of Can Tho City’s ASC, said that the center has guided and supported the model’s implementation in an area of 20ha in Thanh My Commune, Vinh Thanh District since 2016 and it has been maintained up to now.

Currently, the model has also been developed and replicated to some areas bordering the district, especially the Vinh My hamlet in Vinh Thanh Town.

Mr. Nam explained: “Male and female blue-legged prawns have obvious differences in growth rate and size at harvest. The selection of farming all-male species helps increase productivity by taking the most advantages of all kinds of food.”

In particular, all-male giant blue-legged prawns are often sold at a price of double over the female ones. To reduce the cost of shrimp farming and sell high-priced products, in addition to choosing all-male shrimp for farming, farmers in the hamlets of Thanh My Commune and Vinh Thanh Town feed the shrimp with industrial foods combined with vegetables, fruits, and other products such as noodles, corn, coconut, bananas, sweet and potatoes...

High economic efficiency

Mr. Nguyen Le Chung, a farmer in Lan Quoi hamlet, Thanh My Commune, said: “Previously, the family mainly cultivated rice, but it was not effective for many years because the price of rice was always not stable. Since 2016, the Can Tho City’s Center for Agricultural Promotion has implemented the all-male shrimp farming model in rice fields. The model has achieved successful results as it brings in income of three and four times higher than rice farming.” That's why Mr. Chung has chosen to apply the model in his field until today.

According to Mr. Chung, this year, he has risen the all-male shrimp in 1.2 hectares of water surface since September 2020 and is now entering the first harvest. With the current average weight is 20-22 shrimp/kg, the selling price ranges from VND160,000 - 170,000/kg. The harvest is expected to end in September.

Mr. Chung said that all-male shrimps are very healthy with 2-3 times of feeding a day for about 10-15 days. The shrimps are very easy to raise and suitable for the conditions of the Mekong Delta. They have also been adapted to climate change and brought in an income of more than 100 million VND/ha/crop.

Le Van Phiem, in Vinh My hamlet, Vinh Thanh town said, after about 6 months of farming, people usually select the big shrimp for harvest first and sell gradually until the end of the crop which slates about 10 months. This helps farmers regularly collect money and sell shrimp at a high price and effectively utilizes the food source in the pond, limiting the price competition of animal feeds between large and small shrimps.

According to many households implementing in Thanh My Commune, with an area of about 1 hectare, farmers can harvest a total of 1-1.2 tons of shrimps. In previous years, thanks to the high selling price up to 200,000-220,000 VND/kg/ha, farmers can earn about 100 million VND/crop from shrimps of 20kg weight type.

This year alone, the price of giant freshwater shrimp has fallen somewhat lower than every year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the price of 20 shrimp/kg currently only at about 160,000 VND/kg. However, farmers said they still have a profit of about VND30,000-40,000 /kg.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy, agricultural promotion officer in Thanh My Commune said It coulf be affirmed that the model of all-male blue-legged shrimp farming was a new direction in line with current production requirements and consumer needs as it has adapted to climate change, helped reduce waste discharged to the environment and bring economic efficiency three times higher than rice cultivation.

According to Mr. Huy, in the coming time, the commune should encourage farmers to expand the model to an area of 30 hectares.

On June 23, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 885 approving the Scheme of Organic Agriculture for the period 2020 - 2030. The scheme aims to develop organic agriculture with high added value, sustainability, eco-friendly environment, associated with a circular agricultural economy for domestic consumption and export. Organic agricultural products are certified in accordance with regional and international organic agricultural standards; making Vietnam become a country with the level of organic agricultural production on par with advanced countries in the world.