Unique model of crab farming on land

Mr. Le Ngoc Dong successfully piloted a model of raising crabs on land. Photo: PHAN VINH

Find your own way

Along the Yangtze River, for many years now, people have dug ponds to raise shrimp and crabs, using brackish water contaminated by salinity from the Yangtze River. Mr. Dong's family owns a small grocery store and does not raise shrimp and crabs like the people around him.

Mr. Dong's house is on the riverside, so he understands the hardships and risks of shrimp farming. The erratic climate and constantly changing water flow cause shrimp and crabs to suffer from many diseases, which are difficult to control. Because the water is taken naturally from the river, the indicators often fluctuate, which is unfavorable for shrimp and crabs.

This pond can hold more than 50 crab cages. Photo: PHAN VINH

"In the South, they raise shrimp well because the weather is basically stable. In the Central region, sometimes it is hotter than 40 degrees, and in the evening it is colder than 20 degrees. The tides are also erratic, the salinity, pH, and alkalinity are measured differently. My brothers and friends raise shrimp, but sometimes I feel like they are gambling... with the sky. Of course, there are times when the weather is favorable, the price is favorable, and business is quite good, but I see that there are also many failures. Trying to increase the number of shrimp in the pond to reduce disease also requires using a lot of medicine, so the quality of shrimp and crab is not good" - Mr. Dong said.

[VIDEO] - Mr. Dong shares about the reality of luck in shrimp and crab farming in Quang Nam :

Once, when he found a model of raising crabs on land on the internet, he was delighted to see small cells, crabs raised in plastic boxes, all controlled through machinery, the water source is continuously treated with advanced microbiological technology. In particular, this model only requires a small area, low investment cost, can raise crabs.

Crabs are raised in disease-controlled artificial ponds. Photo: PHAN VINH

After several months of research, taking advantage of his family's abandoned house, he bought water pipes, set up tarps, ordered machinery and measuring equipment to assemble a test model.

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"This type of crab farming on land has been done in Singapore and Thailand, but it has only been standardized recently. I see how they do it, so I just follow it, in the spirit of correcting any mistakes. Of course, some issues have to be adjusted to suit the natural conditions of Quang Nam."
Le Ngoc Dong

It is important to control water resources.

After successfully assembling the system of 4 water transmission tanks for crab farming including: main tank with more than 50 cages with more than 50 crabs; tank for treating food residue with microorganisms; disinfection tank; settling tank. These tanks are connected to each other, continuously flowing like a river but at each step the parameters are processed and controlled.

Mr. Dong started a pilot farming of 50 crabs imported from Ca Mau province in February 2023. Up to now, after many times of fixing technical errors, 5 have died, the rest are growing and developing normally.

All operations of the model are automated through electrical equipment.

"The 10% mortality rate is a number that I did not expect. Within 6 months of raising, you can sell and then raise another batch. You can raise up to 2 batches per year, depending on the size of the pond and the local water source to develop the population. In my opinion, this model has quite a lot of potential in the Eastern Quang Nam region, because the food for crabs is small fish and snails, fed twice a day. The most important thing is to control the water source because it accounts for 80% of the success or failure rate of the model, closely monitor the alkalinity, PH, and salinity indexes..." - Mr. Dong shared.

[ VIDEO ] - Mr. Le Ngoc Dong shares his experience in raising crabs on land:

He also said that with the investment in technical equipment and reservoirs, farmers can operate two models in parallel, raising crabs from small to large and buying natural crabs that are soft and mushy due to lack of nutrients to raise until they reach quality and then sell. With a purchase price of about 100,000 VND/kg for soft mushy crabs, after 10 days of raising in Mr. Dong's model, crabs are sold at 300,000 VND/kg, increasing both in price and weight.

Mr. Dong regularly checks underwater indicators to ensure the safety of the crabs. Photo: PHAN VINH

"Up to this point, my model has relatively controlled all the indicators. The number of crabs that died was due to not understanding at first, and since I understood the method, everything has been thoroughly handled. Although it depends on the power source to operate the machine, crabs can live for a day without oxygen, so this problem is not too complicated. In the near future, I will expand the model, build more space, roof, and ensure the temperature is stable at 30-32 degrees," said Mr. Dong.