Compass Travel Vietnam
Ca Mau farmer decided to raise “strange” fish and suddenly became a billionaire
When the eel (Anguilliformes) was still too unfamiliar, Mr. Anh risked a large amount of capital to buy 400 fish in Binh Thuan to raise. No one expected that strange fish would help him “fly” up to a billionaire in the late afternoon.
More than 20 years ago, when people were still unfamiliar with the eel (Anguilliformes), Mr. Nguyen Huu Anh (65 years old, living in Tan Thanh commune, Ca Mau city, Ca Mau) boldly converted 5ha of rice land to dig a pond to raise eels.
This is probably the biggest turning point in the farmer’s life because he defied the objections of his relatives to pursue the eel to the end.
Mr. Anh said, around 1999, he was still growing rice at that time, but because he knew a friend who was a trader and bought fish, he knew the eel was of high value and advised him to try it.
After many nights of thinking, he decided to sell “100 rice stomachs (1 stomach equivalent to 20kg-PV), equivalent to 3.5 million VND to buy 400 seed eels from Binh Thuan. ($1=25,000 VND)
“At that time, the price of such fish was very high. I also did not know how to raise it, how technical it was. My wife found that spending too much money on raising the fish was too strange, so she stopped. But because there were blood dose, I decided to test a pond”, Mr. Anh recalled.
Before that, during the period of rice cultivation, Mr. Anh raised gobies. Thanks to this experience, he applied it to the eel pond. After 18 months of stocking, Mr. Anh slapped the pond, harvested 330 eels, weighing 1-3 kg each (40-60cm long) and sold 65 million VND.
“The money for food and fingerlings is only about 10 million dong, minus all expenses, I make a profit of 55 million dong. With the momentum available, I dug 8 more ponds to raise eels and have the same efficiency as the first time,” said farmer U70.
At that time, eel had a high price, averaging from 500,000-600,000 VND/kg and this price for many years helped him earn billions of dollars.
Around 2011, Anh’s name began to be heard everywhere. In addition to the Ca Mau market, Mr. Anh is also the focal point to supply eels to many provinces and cities across the country.
In 2019, the old farmer decided to spend 8 billion VND to buy more than 5ha of low-yielding land in Tan Thanh commune to invest in raising eels on a large scale. Here, he hired workers to dig 30 ponds, stocking density of 1,000 eels/pond. Although raising eels in great numbers, here Mr. Anh does not use any kind of medicine or industrial food.
According to Mr. Anh, eel is a freshwater fish with high profit, compared to growing rice or vegetables, the difference is 5 times higher. This is an easy fish to raise, has very few diseases, and the main food is tilapia. However, the seed has a high price and takes a long time to be harvested. Therefore, the process of raising this fish must be meticulous and regularly monitored.
“The secret is to treat the water source and change the fish pond regularly. When the pond is finished digging, it must be soaked in water for 15-20 days, then pumped out and new water in. After that, powdered lime is used to treat it. The water level is suitable for raising eels about 1.6m. In 7-8 months, I will move the fish to another pond, thereby limiting pathogens on the fish,” Mr. Anh shared.
He believes that fish farming must be clean, and safe, and absolutely does not use antibiotics. He does not force the fish to grow by feeding too many times, or too fast, but the farmer feeds the fish every other day, at a fixed time.
“The time of change of monsoon season around September is when the eel is weak, so reduce the food by 40-50% compared to normal days. When you see the fish floating, it means the water is dirty, if you die 1-2 fish, check and move. fish through another pond”, Mr. Anh revealed.
Currently, he has 45 eel ponds on a total area of 6ha. The old farmer rotates crops to ensure that there are always fingerlings and commercial fish in the pond. Every year Mr. Anh supplies about 4 tons of eel to the market, with a stable selling price of 400,000-600,000 VND/kg, every year he makes a profit of over 1 billion VND.
Mr. Ho Quoc Trang – Chairman of Tan Thanh Commune Farmers’ Association said that Mr. Anh’s eel farming model is very effective, when the fish has no price, he “picks up the goods” and waits for the price to increase before selling. At the same time, the technique of rearing to the pond regularly is also the secret to helping Anh’s eels stay healthy despite raising large numbers.
“Mr. Anh is a member of the commune’s billionaire former club. His eel farming model is also a place to visit and learn from aquaculture,” added Mr. Trang.
Photo: Internet (vinlove.net)
Ca Mau farmer decided to raise “strange” fish and suddenly became a billionaire
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Source: vinlove
