Tin tức

Mekong Delta: Shrimp prices dropping, shrimp harvesting costs increasing cause farmers loss 

Friday, 13/08/2021, 13:59

Mekong Delta: Shrimp prices dropping, shrimp harvesting costs increasing cause farmers loss

 

 

At this time, many shrimp farmers in some Southern
 provinces are so sad because shrimp prices have dropped while costs have skyrocketed due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

 

Mekong Delta: Shrimp prices drop, shrimp catching costs increase, causing farmers to lose money - Photo 1.

Shrimp farmers in Ben Tre province are harvesting shrimp - Photo: MAU

 TRUONG

In Soc Trang, which is known as the "shrimp capital" with an area of ​​about 50,000 hectares, shrimp prices also dropped sharply.

Mr. Nguyen Van Muoi (Lieu Tu commune, Tran De district, Soc Trang) said that before the 4th outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, the price of shrimp size 30 pcs/kg was bought by traders at the pond at 145,000 - 150,000 VND/kg, but now reduced to only about 130,000 VND/kg.

"Not only the price reduction, the profits of shrimp farmers have shrunk, the restriction of movement

 also makes the trading stage difficult, the cost of hiring shrimp catchers increases sharply," Mr. Muoi lamented.

This year's shrimp crop, Soc Trang stocked about 50,000ha, currently harvesting about 15,000ha.

Mr. Ho Quoc Luc - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sao Ta Food Joint Stock Company (Soc Trang) - said that the drop in shrimp prices was also due to the reason that factories reduced processing capacity to about 30% compared to before.

"All input costs have increased sharply, including container shipping fees. During difficult times, shrimp processing factories find many ways to harmonize the interests of farmers and businesses. Trying to keep the price of shrimp relatively good for farmers to be optimistic and bold to invest so factories will have raw materials for processing and exporting," said Mr. Luc.

In Ben Tre, shrimp prices also dropped sharply in the past month.

Ms. Bui Hong Anh (living in Thanh Phu district) said that her family had just finished harvesting shrimp.

 "This year shrimp has the bumper crop
 but the price dropped so much that the revenue was not enough to cover expenses. If whiteleg shrimp size 33pcs/kg was sold at 150,000 VND - 180,000 VND but now it only costs 118,000 VND/kg. And shrimp size 150 pcs/kg, the price is only 45,000 VND/kg. While the cost of chemicals
 and feeds
 is increasing then
 the price of shrimp has dropped causing most farmers to lose money."

In addition, the rent of shrimp catchers also increased due to the impact of the disease.

 Because shrimp catchers are required to be tested for COVID-19, they are also included in the price of catching shrimp.

Normally, the price of each net (2 people using one net to catch shrimp) only costs 800,000 VND but now the price is 1.5-2 million VND.

 It is these reasons that make shrimp farmers suffer losses and losses.

According to the Ben Tre Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has 50,000 hectares of potential aquaculture area.

 As of 2021, Ben Tre has deployed 45,747 hectares of aquaculture, with a total farming output of more than 295,000 tons.
 In which, there are 36,000ha of intensive and semi-intensive marine shrimp farming, the output of farmed shrimp is about 70,000 tons.

Source: tuoitre.vn, SEABINA GROUP'S translation

Readers' opinions

Other news