Organic shrimp farming: Good approach for economic development in Ca Mau

So far, the district has owned over 5,270 hectares granted organic certification, the rest of 5,000 hectares was waiting for the certification in the coming time. Many local shrimp farmers are increasingly applying and expanding the model.

To help local farmers breed organic shrimp in compliance with international standard, in 2013, the district organized 25 training courses with the participation of 781 households.

Organic shrimp farming model was applied in Ca Mau 10 years ago through the project funded by Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam. At the primary period, the model was implemented by Ngoc Hien Forestry One Member Company, Ltd. After that, Ca Mau based-Nam Can Seaproducts Import-Export JSC bought all the certified organic shrimp produced by 350 household farmers on the area of over 2,500 hectares in Kien Vang Protective Forest. Lately, the project of mangrove restoration through sustainable shrimp farming model in Ca Mau called Mangroves and Market (MAM) project was funded by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) in coordination with Minh Phu Seafood Corp. The project was implemented by 780 households.

Local farmers are guided techniques in farming organic black tiger shrimp together with forest cultivation and protection. To ensure high profit for farmers, in March 2013, the Ca Mau-based Minh Phu Seafood Corp, the world’s prestigious shrimp exporter committed to buy all the certified organic shrimp that farmers produce at a ten percent premium. Minh Phu Seafood Corp exports its products to more than 40 foreign markets with revenue of US$500 million in 2013. Annually, the company imports about 130,000 MT of raw shrimp.

Shrimp produced by nearly 800 household farmers participating the project will be certificated “organic shrimp” in 2014. In order to increase farmer-to-farmer learning and encourage compliance through peer pressure, 27 groups were established, each with 30-40 farmers and an elected leader. The annual audits will be carried out on a random sample of all the farmers enrolled in the program.

After one year implementation of the MAM project, the project proved its good results. Organic shrimp produced by Ca Mau province raises its value and meets strict requirements from foreign markets.

In July 2013, SNV ran a training course for 1,000 shrimp farmers of which 783 agreed to apply for certification. Thanks to the project, there are hundreds of hectares of degraded mangroves restored through forest replanting and protection.

By 2020, the province strives to expand the area of organic shrimp farming together with forestry cultivation to 20,000 hectares and the rice-shrimp area to more than 43,000 hectares. The province targets to become a hub of organic shrimp farming with high value along with forestry protection and reducing impact of climate change.