Shrimp Aquaculture

A comprehensive checklist for the technical team includes infrastructure details for water management, such as surface and benthic aeration, presence of central drainage, systems for disinfection, liners, biosecurity features and automation and monitoring devices. On the operations side are details such as hatchery and post larvae audits, stocking, water quality parameters, feeding adjustments, biosecurity and production and health records.

“Based on the information collected, we can guide them to improve their culture system and get better results. Sometimes we can make some improvement for the farm, but sometimes we have to start from the beginning and help farmers to construct the farm,” said Khanh. This is the “Grofarm” model, developed to start from the beginning.

The team works with several partner hatcheries in the country to help farmers get the best post larvae and also identify which genetics (fast growth or disease resistant) suits the farmer’s goal and farm in a particular region or area. “Our team also stays in the hatchery to choose the best post larvae for the farmer. This is quite special for our company. We also develop functional feeds for nursery stages, provide immune and grow-out booster feeds and help farmers decide on the right protocol at the farm.”

The goal is to achieve as high an efficiency for each farm as possible and return higher profits. Besides that, advise farmers to culture shrimp to a marketable size and volume that fits market demand, geography and environmental conditions.

In his take-home message, Decamp emphasised that the role of the aquafeed company is to identify, understand and prioritise the challenges and then develop or improve on cost-efficient diets and feed management protocols. It is also to analyse farm and feed performance data and share the output with farmers. The feed company supports farms with access to the best-performing post larvae, new technologies and funding and provides recommendations on infrastructure needs.

References

Samson Li, 2021. Managing the shrimp production supply chain in a post-pandemic world: Vietnam’s case. Aqua Culture Asia Pacific, January/February 2021, Pages 18-22.

Decamp, O., Nguyen Van Khanh, 2022. Challenges in shrimp production in Vietnam: Role of Aquafeed Players. Presented at TARS 2022, Aquafeeds: A New Equilibrium, October 6-7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.