Bac Lieu the ‘capital of shrimp’ remains a far-fetched goal

“Sluggishly” granting of shrimp farming area codes

Bac Lieu province is expected to become the “shrimp industry center” of Vietnam with nearly 140,000 ha of farming area. At present, over 100,000 ha needs to be issued farming area codes. This is not a small challenge, especially when a part of the people are not interested in the issuance of farming area codes. In order to implement this work effectively, the agricultural sector of Bac Lieu is drastically putting solutions into practice, aiming to first raise farmers’ awareness.

Mr. Luu Hoang Ly, Director of Bac Lieu Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said, “Although the issuance of farming area codes has increased compared to previous years, assessment from the functional sector shows that the implementation progress is still very slow considering the province’s actual aquaculture development. Bac Lieu currently has 49,800 shrimp farms, but so far, only approximately 7% of the farms have been granted a farming area code”.

By the end of February 2023, the whole province of Bac Lieu had nearly 3,500 shrimp farming establishments that were granted farming area codes covering a total area of over 6,600 ha (more than 9,400 ponds).

In particular, Bac Lieu city has 191 establishments with a total area of 230 ha, Hoa Binh district has 962 establishments with 600 ha, Dong Hai district has 1,140 establishments with 1,729 ha, Vinh Loi district has 96 establishments with 140 ha, Hong Dan district 403 facilities with 936 ha, and Phuoc Long district 1,244 establishments with 2,560 ha.

It can be said that giving a code to a shrimp farm is like giving a "birth certificate" to the shrimp. From the farming area code, consumers can recognize the shrimp farm owner as well as the source of origin of the shrimp. It is thus crucial for Bac Lieu to have synchronous and effective solutions to promote the registration and granting of farming area codes,  meeting the requirements of traceability and procedure in order to ensure export to some strict markets such as the USA and China.

Quickening the process

The agricultural sector of Bac Lieu also admits that the documents and procedures specified in the granting of farming area codes also cause certain issues for people. Therefore, in parallel with promoting communication, the provincial agricultural sector has proposed to adjust a number of regulations in accordance with reality, creating convenient conditions for people to carry out procedures for granting farming area codes.

Bac Lieu Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued Official Letter No. 208/SNN-CCTS, sending units on speeding up the process of granting verification codes to key subjects in the province in 2023. At the same time, the functional units are assigned to quickly handle relevant matters such as the issuance of land use right certificates or change of land use purpose to mariculture.

Realizing the importance as well as long-term benefits of farming area codes, especially when Bac Lieu's farmed shrimp needs a large output, businesses and cooperatives in the province have started to take keen interest in acquiring a farming area code. Shrimp farming enterprises and farmers are required to strictly implement the registration and issue of codes according to regulations, improve product quality, reduce intermediaries to reduce production costs and apply certified farming methods (VietGAP, GlobalGAP, ASC, etc.).

Processing enterprises also believe that the granting of farming area codes and traceability will help stabilize the source of shrimp inputs. In fact, enterprises can only be self-sufficient 30-40% of raw materials for self-manufacturing and management. The rest depends on many sources of income purchased from smallholder farmers. This may adversely affect the shrimp export industry nationwide if the quality control and clear origin declaration of raw materials are not guaranteed. This is also the reason why enterprises form private farming areas. Other enterprises that buy seeds freely and do not guarantee traceability are prone to risks.