May 4, 2009

Tiger shrimp breeders in Mekong Delta are facing huge losses due to unseasonal rains, which brought a sudden change in salt concentration and killed large numbers of shrimp.

Out of 540,000 hectares of land use for tiger shrimp in 2008, all shrimp in 148,000 hectares in Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Soc Trang provinces were killed by unseasonal rains, according to reports from the Department of Fishery Cultivation and Breeding of the Mekong Delta. 

Only 45 percent of farmers made a profit, while many incurred losses and some others break even at best, the reports said.

The situation has led to many local farmers not having sufficient capital to reinvest in the coming crops.

Farmers in Lai Hoa Commune of Soc Trang Province had previously used all the land for breeding tiger shrimps, but now only 30 percent are used.

There is insufficient capital and feed are bought on credit but feed sellers are no longer ready to offer farmers this method of payment, said a shrimp farmer in Lai Hoa.

In the last crop of 2008, farmers sold their produce at lower prices than those of feed so they were unable to make payments to feed sellers on time, resulting in a loss of trust, the farmer said.

Many farmers are also unable to ask for bank loans so they either reduce breeding density or only use part of the land for breeding purposes, said another farmer in the Thanh Quoi Commune of Soc Trang Province.