Western farmers have a good harvest and good prices for catching crayfish for Tet.

Besides giant tiger prawn, white leg shrimp, and crab that have been developed up to now, in recent years, people in the West have intercropped giant freshwater prawn and grown rice, earning income no less than shrimp farming in the saltwater season.

In previous years, crayfish were considered a secondary crop alongside rice. However, in recent years, thanks to stable prices, crayfish have become the main source of income for some farming households - Photo: THANH HUYEN

On January 1, Mr. Nguyen Van Dien, Bien Bach Dong commune, Thoi Binh district, Ca Mau province, said he had harvested more than 150 million VND with more than 2 hectares of rice cultivation combined with shrimp farming.

"Just counting the rice and crayfish crop this season, I have pocketed more than 150 million, after deducting expenses, I have more than 60 million left to celebrate Tet. The remaining shrimp, along with tiger prawns and crabs, I will save after Tet to harvest and sell for savings," Mr. Dien excitedly boasted.

In the 2024 rice-shrimp crop, Ca Mau province will develop more than 37,100 hectares of giant freshwater prawn combined with rice cultivation. Of which, Thoi Binh district has the largest rice-growing area on shrimp farming land in Ca Mau province with nearly 19,000 hectares.

The shrimp rice model is bringing quite high and sustainable efficiency to farmers here. The "shrimp hugging rice" model has brought a significant source of income to farmers in Ca Mau.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Hieu, Bien Bach Dong commune, Thoi Binh district, said that he raised shrimp for more than 5 months before harvesting. Just counting shrimp alone, this time Mr. Dien harvested more than 500kg and sold more than 60 million VND. After deducting the cost of seeds of 4 million VND, Mr. Hieu still made a profit of about 55 million VND.

Traders come to people's houses to buy shrimp from early morning.

Mr. Dien and Mr. Hieu are two of hundreds of households in Bien Bach Dong commune who have caught giant freshwater prawns in their rice fields. This year, these households have achieved both high shrimp yields and high prices, so they are very excited.

Mr. Tran Hai Dang, shrimp trader in Thoi Binh district

Normally, crayfish will be released around the 6th lunar month and will be harvested in bulk around December.

After harvesting, live crayfish will be purchased by traders at the farm gate at a price of 100,000 - 130,000 VND/kg. With such a high selling price, shrimp farmers can earn tens of millions of VND per crop.

The effectiveness of the combined circular economic models has helped many Ca Mau people become quite rich. Poor households and households with little land for production have also learned from these multi-product development models and followed them, thereby helping their economies gradually become more stable.

After being weighed, the shrimp will be put into large oxygenated tanks and transported to trucks for consumption.

With the characteristics of low loss, high success rate, low investment costs such as food, water treatment drugs, shrimp is increasingly favored by Ca Mau people to grow in parallel with rice crop in the freshwater season. The good development of rice roots and stubble will help the soil to be improved and restored for the next saltwater crop.

The "shrimp hugging rice" model in Ca Mau is considered by many farmers to be effective and adaptable to climate change. On average, for each hectare of green-shrimp rice production, farmers will earn a profit of about 80 - 100 million VND/year.

Many people have a warmer, more prosperous Tet from harvesting crayfish.

Shrimp rice fields in Thoi Binh district, Ca Mau province are ready for harvest.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nong-dan-mien-tay-trung-mua-duoc-gia-bat-tom-cang-an-tet-2024123121313329.htm