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| Huỳnh Công Lý’s mangrove forest in which he breeds shrimp and crabs in Trà Vinh Province’s Duyên Hải District. – VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Hoà |
TRÀ VINH – Farmers in Trà Vinh Province have earned high profit from integrating the cultivation of mangrove forests and aquatic species this year.
They have completed harvesting the aquatic species breeding crop under the forest-aquaculture model this year and earned an average profit of VNĐ150 million (US$5,900) per hectare.
These aquatic species include shrimp, fish, crabs and bivalve molluscs. These species eat mostly natural food in the forests and are clean products.
The prices of these aquatic species products are 20 per cent higher than the prices of industrial bred ones, according to local farmers.
Huỳnh Văn Tài of Duyên Hải’s Long Vĩnh Commune has implemented the model for eight years on a 4ha of forest land in which he uses 40 per cent of the land area to grow trees and the rest to breed shrimp and mud crabs.
Duyên Hải District has about 1,000 households implementing forest-aquaculture farming with a total area of 865ha, according to Phạm Thị Hồng Diễm, deputy head of the district Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The model has the advantages that farmers do not have to worry about disease outbreaks and the cost of animal food is reduced by 80 per cent compared to conventional breeding methods, she said.
Farmers can decide when they harvest their shrimp and fish to avoid facing price declines due to oversupply during the main harvest season, she said.
The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province has about 5,750ha of forest-aquaculture area in the coastal zones of Duyên Hải Town and Cầu Ngang, Châu Thành and Duyên Hải districts.
Local authorities have encouraged farmers to expand the model as it offers stable income, adapts to climate change and contributes to increased forest cover.
The province has zoned more than 23,980ha of forest land in coastal areas in which about 12,250ha are used to grow mangrove forests and 11,730ha are used for aquaculture.
It has implemented support policies to encourage farmers to grow new mangrove forests and breed aquatic species in them. The policies include a subsidy of up to VNĐ37 million ($1,500) per hectare for buying seedlings to grow trees.
Forest development
The province has 9,620ha of forests as of the end of last year, accounting for 4.1 per cent of its total land.
These forests are mostly mangrove forests.
The exploitation of forests, the conversion of forests into other socio-economic development purposes and the impact of natural disasters have caused a decline of the province’s natural forests in past years.
To recover these forests, the province has strengthened growing new forests in recent years.
The province plans to grow 150ha of new forests this year.
This year, the province has implemented various forest growing activities, including a Tết (Lunar New Year) tree planting festival, the forest growing activities of MangLub Social Enterprise Vietnam Limited and a project of growing protective forests to cope with climate change in 2021-25.
Besides growing forests, the province has strengthened advocacy activities about protecting forests and the ecological environment.
The province Forest Protection Sub-department has implemented a model “To visit forests and experience growing forests” since 2021.
The sub-department has organised 23 trips for 933 people to visit forests and grow forest trees as of September this year.
These people are mostly students, locals and visitors from other provinces and foreigners. They have planted a total of 933 trees in a total area of 4ha. – VNS
