The largest black carp hub in the Northern region

Sedge agro-field transitions to fish farming

Established in 1971 during the period of agricultural cooperatives flourishing in the northern region, Bach Long Sedge Farm (Nam Dinh province) specialized in sedge cultivation. For a long time, the sedge farm supplied raw materials to sedge weaving villages in Nam Dinh and Thai Binh provinces.

However, due to market mechanism changes, the traditional sedge weaving industry has been declining, no longer yielding economic benefits. Bach Long Sedge Farm shifted its focus to freshwater aquaculture by converting sedge cultivation areas into ponds and reservoirs for freshwater fish farming.

Mr.Nguyen Hong Khanh, Director of Bach Long Sedge Farm, stated that since transitioning from sedge cultivation to freshwater fish farming, cooperative members have enjoyed a higher standard of living and greater economic efficiency compared to sedge cultivation.

Currently, Bach Long has about 170 households managing 142 hectares of large-scale fish ponds, providing over 2,000 tons of marketable fish each year.

"We have identified aquaculture as the primary production sector of our unit. The current area used for aquaculture is 129.2 hectares out of 142.6 hectares of agricultural land, including 27.6 hectares for marine aquaculture and 101.6 hectares for freshwater aquaculture. Every year, the sedge farm conducts technical training classes on white-leg shrimp farming in freshwater areas without using antibiotics, which has resulted in high economic efficiency. Each hectare of shrimp farming increases economic efficiency by 50-60 million VND," said Mr. Khanh.

Through the practical transition from low-yield sedge cultivation to raising various aquatic species (shrimp, crab, carp, black carp, grass carp) as well as livestock farming (cattle, chickens, etc.), black carp is the main aquaculture product, with revenues reaching 400-450 million VND per hectare per year. Aquaculture farmers earn between 150-200 million VND per hectare.

"When transitioning from sedge to fish farming, the sedge farm has created favorable conditions for aquaculture households to develop. These households must comply with regulations, including not discharging wastewater into irrigation canals, maintaining safety by reinforcing the dikes along the brackish water region, and notifying the team leader two days in advance when they need fresh water from the salty area. These households also construct shrimp ponds with a 5-meter buffer zone, refrain from independently building dikes across secondary and tertiary rivers, and are prohibited from releasing unprocessed wastewater into the common production area," Mr. Khanh explained.

Largest black carp farm in the North

For many years, Bach Long has been becoming the largest supplier of black carp in Northern Vietnam. Each year, thousands of tons of black carp are provided from this place. Local households are transitioning towards commodity production, applying scientific and technical methods for large-scale freshwater fish farming.

Recently, Mr. Vu Van Thien household harvested from a 7,000 square meter pond stocked with black carp (weighing 7 kg each) after nearly 2 years of farming. The total area of ponds under Mr. Thien's stewardship is 1.4 hectares. The current price for black carp is around 70,000 VND per kilogram. The carp have reached sizes of 7 kg and above, with every additional 200 grams increasing the price by 1,000 VND.

"Bach Long supplies marketable black carp to the entire Northern region. The grown-up fish ponds are purchased for service businesses, providing high-weight fish or supplying fish to restaurants for consumers. Due to the staggered stocking of ponds, there are households harvesting fish every week and every day, ensuring a continuous and uninterrupted fish supply," Mr. Thien elaborated.

Since 2010, various models of freshwater aquaculture have emerged in the sedge farm, subsequently flourishing and developing on a large scale. Since the fish pond land contracts expired on December 31, 2020, Bach Long is preparing a report for the Provincial People's Committee and relevant departments to request approval to continue signing contracts with households, requiring them to maintain the current land use status and continue organizing production, preventing land from falling into disuse.

"According to the plan, Bach Long Sedge Farm is accelerating the equitization process to stabilize production for its workers. We are awaiting guidance from the Provincial People's Committee to proceed with the model transformation, focusing on freshwater aquaculture, especially using black carp as the primary breeding species," shared Mr. Nguyen Hong Khanh, Director of Bach Long sedge Farm.