The freshwater fish rearing model of veteran Nguyen Hoang Ki, in hamlet 5, An Thai commune, Phu Giao district, is very impressive. After deducting expenses, each year he earns more than half one billion VND from this model.
Mr. Ky (middle) checks the quality of fish before being loaded onto truck.
On an area of over 100 hectares that he bought from An Phuoc Prison, his model has 20 workers, and many trucks that are always ready to take fish for consumption. Instead of just standing there and directing, Mr. Ki joined his hands with his workers to load each fish basket onto trucks.
He said: “My age should have rested, not be in the field like this. My grandchildren also want me to rest now for good health, after many years of hardship. But as a farmer and veteran, I feel very uncomfortable when staying at home to rest”. He said that his fish was fed with leftovers from An Phuoc Prison. As a result, the fish meat is very fragrant and delicious, the fish grow fast, and contain no unsafe substances for consumer’s health.
This year is the first year he rears fish in this pond. Before that, he put his effort into pig farming in many years. In early 2019, when the pig flock was affected by African swine fever epidemic, he decided to terminate the farm and bid for more than 100 hectares of water surface to raise fish.
He said, he used a net to separate about 20ha for fish rearing. In this area, the water comes in and out frequently, thus the fish grow fast, rarely die, the successful rate is very high. Each clutch earns him 50 tons of fish. With the current average selling price of 12,000 VND / kg, after deducting expenses each year, he achieves an income of 450-500 million VND.
Sharing experience in fish rearing, he said that a fish pond should not be kept in only one type of fish, except for high-class fish, because raising many types of fish in a same pond not only prevents well risks but also makes use of food among the fish, helping farmers to save costs.
Importantly, the fish has a stable consuming source; traders have workers to fish themselves. He realized that the bigger the fish were, the more valuable they were, because its meat was delicious and easy to sell.
According to Mr. Ki, since he switched to fish rearing, he has had more time for his family, participating in activities and movements of local Veterans Association. “Another joy of me when raising fish is whenever I feed the fish, I usually sit, watch my fish, feel so peaceful and relaxed. Actually, raising fish is easier than raising pigs, and its income is quite good, so I feel very guaranteed and happy”, he said.
Reported by Hoai Phuong – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
