VietNamNet Bridge - To have safe food, many residents have turned the roof of their houses into gardens and fish ponds. This has become a trend in big cities like Hanoi and HCM City.

Ms. Ha Thi Phuong in Thuy Phuong commune, Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi saidher family invested several thousands of USD to hire engineers to design and install a closed system to produce organic vegetables and fish on the roof of her house.

Phuong said this system works automatically. 

The fish pond is a water tank containing half a cubic meter of water. Water from the fish pond plus fish feces is pumped directly to the system of vegetable trays, which contain baked clay pieces, not soil, which also filters water before it runs back to the fish pond.

Mr. Pham Trung Tuan, from a company that designs and installing this system in Hanoi, said that this model was brought to Vietnam a few years ago. It is getting more popular in Vietnam, particularly in Hanoi and HCM City. However, initial investment cost is quite high compared to Vietnam’s per capita income.

For those who can’t afford this expensive system, they plant vegetables in foam boxes. 

Planting vegetables and breeding fish this way is not very economical, as the production cost for these products are much higher than those in the market, but city-dwellers prefer it because their food is safe.

Food safety has become a major concern for Vietnamese people. The number of food poisoning cases has rocketed in recent time while the media regularly reported of discovery of unsafe food.