VietNamNet Bridge - A bio-product for shrimp farming created from bagasse allows farmers to save 50 percent of expenses.

The bio-product was made by Tran Phuc Hau, 29, from Binh Thuan hamlet of Binh Dai district in Ben Tre province. He is a graduate of  HCM City Economics University.  Hau returned to his home village where he has been running a shop distributing medicine and feed for aquaculture. 
 

After shrimp eat food, the waste it discharges will form a layer of sediment at the bottom of ponds. This layer of sediment will generate toxic gas that harms shrimp, because it is the environment for harmful bacteria to thrive. Bagasse powder will solve the problem of soil degradation and help shrimp grow.

He realized that it was costly to farm shrimp with medicinal chemicals available in the market. The profit farmers can pocket from farming is modest, while the shrimp quality is not high and the soil impoverished.

Hau, also a shrimp farmer, once suffered heavily as his shrimp died en masse. He lost several hundreds of millions of dong.

“I read documents and found that bagasse has some effects. There are some elements in bagasse which can stimulate useful algae and help improve the farming environment,” he said.

Hau collected bagasse and ground it with a small grinder that he bought at VND6.5 million. After that, he covered up the grinds of bagasse with microorganisms for 72 hours. And the mixture – bagasse powder - is ready for use in shrimp farming.

According to Hau, during the shrimp hatchery, farmers now clean ponds with chemicals to kill bacteria. The disadvantage of the solution is that the chemicals will exhaust the soil. 

Meanwhile, with the bagasse powder, the soil will become fertile because the mixture provides minerals and useful microorganisms. As the soil recovers fertility, when water is pumped into shrimp ponds, algae develop well and help shrimp grow healthy.

After shrimp eat food, the waste it discharges will form a layer of sediment at the bottom of ponds. This layer of sediment will generate toxic gas that harms shrimp, because it is the environment for harmful bacteria to thrive. Bagasse powder will solve the problem of soil degradation and help shrimp grow.

Hau said a 3,000 square meter shrimp pond would need 300 kilograms of bagasse powder. One kilo costs VND5,000, so the total cost would be VND1.5 million. This allows farmers to save 50 percent in costs compared with the use of chemicals.

Hau now sells 1 ton of bagasse powder a month and the product is being used in Mekong Delta’s provinces. 

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