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Square-head anabas booming in Hau Giang
Earlier this year, the production of square-head anabas has developed into a new aquaculture model in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang. This has resulted in many farmers shifting their breeding from tra fish to square-head anabas.
Farmers in the province have become richer for breeding this new kind of anabas fish – the square-head anabas.
Tran Duy Minh, the owner of the farm, said that he began breeding square-head anabas in July, 2010. The fish grew very fast and weigh twice as much as normal anabas, adding 400 grams to their weight in only five months.
After harvesting, he sold 12 tons of the fish for VND30, 000 per kilogram and made a profit of VND120 million (US$6,000).
The news of this spread quickly to other farmers in Long Binh commune, Long My District. They too began to build ponds so that they could breed the fish. Tran Duy Minh also assisted other farmers in how to successfully breed this type of fish.
Two year ago, Nguyen Van Khai, a farmer harvested his anabas and found out that more than 70 of them had square heads and were bigger than the others. He retained the big anabas fish so that he could breed a new variety of fish.
Today the fish sell for VND45, 000-50,000 a kilogram, at markets in the Mekong Delta.
However, according to Huynh Thanh Binh, chairperson of Vinh Thuan Commune People’s Committee, many farmers in the provinces are now destroyed rice fields in order to breed the fish and he could not prevent them from doing this. The province’s area of fish has increased to 220 hectares and will continue to increase in near future, said Binh.
Control the breeding of the square-head anabas
The Hau Giang agricultural sector has asked related departments to test the DNA and the genes of the square-head anabas before it can be granted recognition as the Hau Giang Square-head Anabas.
Some traders exported the fish to Cambodia and Singapore in very small volumes.
The province’s leaders said many farmers cultivate the breeding themselves, so it is difficult to control the breeding process. According to the Hau Giang Department of Agro-product Quality Management, breeding extension is facing the risk of ‘poor quality breeding’.
Dr. Duong Nhat Long from Can Tho University said that it is necessary to preserve and develop the square-head anabas. This would help farmers become richer, getting them out of poverty.
The quantity of other fish, like the climbing perch, is declining in natural ponds. Traders have urged the farmers to expand their ponds. The fish is very easy to breed, with five to seven adult fish producing around 60,000 eggs.
Farmers in the province are currently creating a brand name for the fish, which will be submitted to the province's Department of Science and Technology for their approval.
The new brand name and trademark will help farmers export the fish, a farmer said.
Cao Phong - Quoc Thoi
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