April 23, 2012

Vietnam's Cholimex to invest US$2 million in white-leg shrimp farming project

In order to develop a high-tech white-leg shrimp farming project in Ho Chi Minh City's Can Gio district, Vietnam's Cho Lon Investment Export and Import Co. (Cholimex), has plans to invest VND45 billion (US$2.13 million) in the said project.

The company will initially pilot the project on an area of 1.2 hectares and then the enterprise will hand over farming technology to Can Gio farmers, said Cholimex's Deputy General Director Huynh An Trung.

Dinh The Hien, director of the Institute of Applied Informatics and Economic Research, which provides consultancy for Cholimex, said the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has given nod to high-tech shrimp farming in the outlying district.

The institute will evaluate investment costs of current farming techniques to compare with that of Cholimex, Hien said. Under Cholimex's technology, farmers will reduce the use of chemicals to treat water and diseases.

According to the city's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Can Gio earlier had only 800 hectares for white-leg shrimp farming, or 13.3% of the total farming area. The figure has expanded to 6,000 hectares now, or 90% of total area, as farmers fear a strong disease outbreak in tiger shrimps.