Shrimp Aquaculture

At the beginning of 2022, stocking was excellent, leading to optimistic perceptions for the year. Following the Covidrelated restrictions in late 2021, there was active stocking in January, February and March (Figure 3), fuelled by higher prices. Then, the percentage of farms stocking decreased. In the second half of the year, unfavourable weather conditions and the prevalence of diseases resulted in crop losses or delayed crops. Decamp said, “In the Mekong Delta, rain volume and patterns were very challenging for farmers. In several leading production areas in the Mekong Delta (Soc Trang, Ca Mau and Bac Lieu), there was excessive rain in peak production months, i.e., June and July, compared to 2021”.

EHP critical amidst climate challenges

Data collected by the Grobest technical team showed that there were few incidences of diseases before March. However, from March onwards, there were reports of white faeces syndrome (WFS) across the country and then slow growth followed by major reports of mortality. In the Mekong Delta, it was WFS, Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) and acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND); in central Vietnam, it was all three diseases due to rains; and in the north, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) was rampant in addition to EHP, WFS and AHPND. This information matched the observations of processors on the difficult access to raw material (Figure 4). “Out of all pathogens, EHP was critical this year,” said Decamp.

EHP critical amidst climate challenges

Data collected by the Grobest technical team showed that there were few incidences of diseases before March However, from March onwards, there were reports of w across the country and then slow growth followed by major reports of mortality. Delta, it was WFS, Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) and acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND); in central Vietnam, it was all three diseases due to rains syndrome virus (WSSV) was rampant in addition to EHP, WFS the observations of processors on the difficult access to raw material pathogens, EHP was critical this year,” said Decamp.

EHP outbreaks across the country impacted farm operations and farmers were hesitant to stock due to fear of disease outbreaks. Across the country, positive cases for EHP in the Mekong Delta were as high as 100% in Long An, 65% in Bac Lieu, to only 27% in Ben Tre. In the north, it was as high as 86% in Thai Binh and a low of 55% in Thua Thien Hue. In the central region, it was 90% in Binh Thuan, 75% in Ninh Thuan, to only 35% in Binh Dinh (Figure 5).

“EHP is a nasty pathogen, which does not kill the shrimp but decreases farmers’ profitability because of lower growth. As a feed company, we need to make sure that we provide feed or feeding protocol that will give farmers the best return on investment,” said Decamp. “Feed conversion ratio (FCR) is not the only factor considered in economic analysis. We need to make sure that we provide the best return on investment for customers. One feed may not be the best for all the farmers and may not be the best throughout the year for all culture situations.”

EHP outbreaks across the country impacted farm operations and farmers were hesitant to stock due to fear of disease outbreaks. Across the country, positive cases for EHP in the Mekong Delta were as high as 100% in Long An, 65% in Bac Lieu, to only 27% in Ben Tre. In the north, it was as high as 86% in Thai Binh and a low of 55% in Thua Thien Hue. In the central region, it was 90% in Binh Thuan, 75% in Ninh Thuan, to only 35% in Binh Dinh (Figure 5)

The value advantage for farmers in Vietnam

“EHP is a nasty pathogen, which does not kill the shrimp but decreases farmers’ profitability because of lower growth. As a feed company, we need to make sure that we provide feed or feeding protocol that will give farmers the best return on investment,” said Decamp and added that feed conversion ratio (FCR) is not the only factor considered in economic analysis “We need to make sure that we provide the best return on investment for customers . One feed may not be the best for all the farmers and may not be the best throughout the year for all culture situations.”

There is already a high level of culture intensification in Vietnam. There is also a general understanding that such intensification is impossible because of the farming conditions and environment in some areas. According to Li (2021), intensive culture in lined open ponds starts with a stocking density of 90 PL/m2 and produces 10-20 tonnes/ ha/cycle. In highly aerated lined open ponds with waste management protocols and producing 15-40 tonnes/ha/ cycle, the stocking density is 200-400PL/m2

Commented [NMT1]: This

“We need to make sure that investment” we need to make sure that protocol that will give farmers investment,” said Decamp and ratio (FCR) is not the only factor analysis. “One feed may not and it may not be the best throughout situations.”

% positive cases in the Central 2 region

Figure 5. EHP outbreaks across Vietnam from data collected by the Grobest technical team in 2022.

Construction of a central

drainage system for a farm.

The construction of a central drainage system for a farm in <where>.

The value advantage for farmers in Vietnam

“Nowadays, Vietnamese farmers must cope with numerous challenges. Therefore, as a feed company, our role is to ensure benefits to the farmer, such as feeds with low FCR, to produce healthy and increase shrimp survival rates. We have to create several feeding protocols to match the needs of farms which differ in the level of intensification. We have situations where farmers can achieve faster shrimp growth rates and produce larger shrimp with higher ex-farm prices, such as in South Vietnam. Weather conditions in the north and central regions limit this possibility,” said Khanh. “In this presentation, we show examples of the value of feed and feed SOPs. The value advantage is the profit per kg of shrimp; harvest yields as high as VND76,000/kg (USD3.2/kg) but at a feed/kg shrimp cost of VND61,221/ kg (USD2.56/kg) in contrast with a harvest yield of VND70,732/kg (USD2.96/kg) and a feed/kg shrimp cost of VND 47,939 (USD2/kg).

There is already a high level of culture intensification in Vietnam. There is also a general understanding that such intensification is impossible because of the farming conditions and environment in some areas According to Li (2021), intensive culture in lined open ponds starts with a stocking density of 90 PL/m2 and produces 10-20 tonnes/ha/cycle. In highly aerated lined open ponds with waste management protocols and producing 15 -40 tonnes/ha/cycle, the stocking density is 200-400PL/m2 .

“Nowadays, Vietnamese farmers must cope with numerous challenges. Therefore, as a feed company, our role is to ensure benefits to the farmer, such as feeds with low FCR, to produce healthy and increase shrimp survival rates. We have to create several feeding protocols to match the needs of farms which differ in the level of intensification We have situations where farmers can achieve faster shrimp growth rates and produce larger shrimp with higher ex-farm prices, such as in South Vietnam Weather conditions in the north and central regions limit this possibility,” said Khanh. “In this presentation, we show examples of the value of feed and feed SOPs. The value advantage is the profit per kg of shrimp; harvest yields as high as VND76,000/kg (USD3.2/kg) but at a feed/kg shrimp cost of VND61,221/kg (USD2.56/kg) in contrast with a harvest yield of VND70,732/kg (USD2.96/kg) and a feed/kg shrimp cost of VND 47,939 (USD2/kg).

Quote:

Supporting farmers

Photo

Nguyen Van Khanh says, “The more data we collect, the more we can understand the culture situations and the better we can help farmers with the correct advice.”

Supporting farmers

“We also understand that just by providing feeds only, we cannot help the farmers. We need to support them by checking the environmental conditions, evaluating the shrimp’s health status and performing diagnostics, etc., so that they understand the real situation around the farm and make the right decision for their shrimp and farm success Data is then transferred to a central database.

“We also understand that just by providing feeds only, we cannot help the farmers. We need to support them by checking the environmental conditions, evaluating the shrimp’s health status and performing diagnostics, etc., so that they understand the real situation around the farm and make the right decision for their shrimp and farm success. Data is then transferred to a central database. The more data we collect, the more we can understand the culture situations and the better we can help farmers with the correct advice,” said Khanh.

Nguyen Van Khanh says, “The more data we collect, the more we can understand the culture situations and the better we can help farmers with the correct advice.”