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Major Vientiane shrimp farm closes
A major Vientiane shrimp farming operation, the 9 Meena Shrimp Farm, was shut down recently after investors decided it was no longer viable.
According to investors, the farm had been running at a loss for quite some time, as it encountered breeding problems with juvenile shrimp, meaning it was unable to produce a reliable supply of produce for customers.
“Supply levels often dropped because a lot of juvenile shrimps were dying, and others were not maturing fast enough and were too small to sell,” said the former farm manager, Mr Chanthadara Inthavong, on Friday.
“We were importing juvenile shrimp from Thailand, because we can't breed them locally, but unfortunately they didn't always take too well to their new environment. We tried breeding locally but that just wasn't working,” he said.
One of the major issues faced by the farm was temperature fluctuations, with the weather being either too hot or too cold, which meant a lot of shrimp were dying and sufficient adult stock could not be maintained.
The Meena farm was located in Veunkham village, Xaythany district, Vientiane. It was established in 2005 with an investment of almost 2 billion kip (7 million Thai baht) and it was a Lao-Thai business venture, with Lao investors holding a 10 percent share.
It was established after Thai businesses surveyed the Nam Ngum River and found it was suitable for commercial shrimp farming. The farm covered 50 hectares with over 20 shrimp ponds delivering 200-250kg of shrimp to local markets daily.
“We surrendered the lease to the landowner recently. A Chinese business group took over the lease and they are now breeding Tilapia,” Mr Chanthadara said.
He said Vientiane restaurants require over 500kg of shrimp per day, with several large hotels and restaurants each ordering more than 20kg per day. However, Meena was struggling to meet market demand after the 2008 flooding and cool weather had an adverse impact on their production levels.
They could only supply 150-170kg per day because about 60 percent of juvenile and 10 percent of mature shrimps died during the cool weather.
In August last year, their production dropped further, to between 100kg and 150kg of shrimp per day after they had to cease operations for three months because the weather was too hot and thousands of shrimp were dying.
Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) was normally their busiest time of the year, but their sales volumes dropped considerably compared to previous years, and they were only selling from the farm gate and not taking orders.
In January this year, restaurants and markets in Vientiane faced a shortage of shrimp ahead of Pi Mai Lao, as breeders struggled to keep up with demand.
Vientiane now has only one major Vientiane shrimp breeder, Union Phoukham Farm in Xaythany district. It is also a Lao-Thai venture, in which local investors hold a 25 percent stake.
It has 24 ponds and typically produces about 200kg of shrimp daily. It imports juvenile shrimps from Thailand and raises them locally.
vientiane times
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