One ‘magnificent’ shrimp farm in Quang Ninh harvests its first batch

"If you don't do it, then don't. If you do, then do it properly and methodically"

Skinny, angular face. Dark skin and a bright smile. He is the "barefoot tycoon" Dang Ba Manh, Director of Cam Pha High-Tech Shrimp Farming Cooperative in Cong Hoa commune (Cam Pha city, Quang Ninh). The cooperative currently has 35 employees, mainly local workers with salaries ranging from VND 9 to 30 million/month depending on their position.

Manh used to be a construction contractor and real estate trader. After many years of struggling with bricks, mortar, and sand, he had tens of billions of dong in his hands. When the construction and real estate business was in a tight corner, Manh remembered his roots as a son of a purely agricultural family in Gia Loc (Hai Duong), and immediately thought of changing his career. He decided to invest in agriculture.

Since the end of 2021, Manh has been doing research and absorbing shrimp farming experiences in the southern provinces. In October 2022, he started to build a 3-phase high-tech shrimp farming area in a greenhouse on an area of ​​6 ha of aquaculture land in Cong Hoa commune, including 4 ha of water treatment and storage areas and 2 ha of shrimp ponds consisting of 12 ponds of ​​500 m² to 1,000 m² wide, along with 7 water reservoirs for shrimp farming purposes.

Facing countless struggles, the "barefoot tycoon" sometimes feels discouraged and faltered. But then he pulled himself together. For him, living means leaving a mark in his life, and if it’s agriculture, one has to do it systematically on a large scale. Thinking so, he continued to mobilize capital from relatives and friends. Finally, in early 2024, one of the most "magnificent" high-tech shrimp farming areas in Quang Ninh was established.

The first batch

The foundation for Manh’s belief in the success of the shrimp farming model lies in the natural seawater source. It is a very clean water supply, ensuring environmental factors for farming. The synchronous pond infrastructure system also contributes a big part to this success. In particular, he applies very advanced technology, raising shrimp in improved nethouses divided into 3 stages.

"It helps farmers proactively adjust environmental factors, so we can raise and harvest them all year round. During the farming process, we can proactively apply technical solutions to help shrimp develop in accordance with each growth cycle," said Manh.

As a man experienced in the construction field, Manh understands the optimal operating principle of the nethouse model. During the design process, he adjusts the height of the net from the top down to be much larger than that of conventional models. In this way, his nethouses allow flexibility, covering the farming area in the winter, or leaving it airy in the summer, avoiding the situation of stuffiness, condensation, fog, or high humidity that affects the development of shrimp.

In early March 2024, Manh released seeds in 3 ponds, divided into 3 stages: shrimplet, juvenile and adult. In early July 2024, he harvested the first batch of shrimp, yielding more than 50 tons. Manh sold shrimp sized 25 - 30 shrimp/kg for VND 120,000, much lower than the average price on the market every year. With such a price, Manh admitted he only broke even, because at this time, people in many regions sold a lot of shrimp, so the price was low. As the price of shrimp in the North is high when Tet comes near, the batches at that time would compensate for this batch.

In the near future, Cam Pha High-Tech Shrimp Farming Cooperative will submit a proposal to the competent authority to expand the scale of the shrimp farming area in Cong Hoa commune to over 100 ha. If approved, this high-tech industrial shrimp farming model will produce an average annual output of up to thousands of tons to meet domestic consumption and export demands promptly.

According to Manh's calculations, if everything goes well, he can export 450 to 500 tons of shrimp to the market each year. "Customers in China place many orders, but they require us to meet a certain quantity every month, consistently in 12 months. I don't dare to confirm that I have enough supply, so I don't accept the offer, so for now I will still sell shrimp domestically," he said.