Recently, with the approval of the Chairman of the People’s Committee of Soc Trang Province, 12 professors, doctoral and undergraduate students from the University of Tokyo (Japan) and staff from Can Tho University had a field visit to study the model shrimp rice pattern in My Xuyen District, Soc Trang Province.

In My Xuyen District, the District Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development informed, explained and described in detail the model of shrimp rice rotation in the district. The shrimp rice rotation model in My Xuyen district emerged in the 1990s when artificial production of black tiger shrimp seeds was successfully introduced in the central provinces of Vietnam.

Back then, instead of opening and closing floodgates to catch wild shrimp and low-productivity fish, some households bought black tiger shrimp seeds from the central provinces to boost productivity in the dry season. In the rainy season, the shrimp rice area of ​​My Xuyen district is fully sweetened due to the amount of fresh water and rainwater coming from upstream, so that people can directly cultivate rotary rice crop on the region’s shrimp cultivation land The.

Since then, due to the positive effect of the model, many other farmers have had to “imitate” and also achieve high economic efficiency, and gradually the model is increasingly replicated, forming a rotation system for shrimp – rice of My Xuyen District.

After more than 30 years of construction and development, with ups and downs, there have been years of great success in shrimp farming, people switched to specialized shrimp farming for 2 harvests and then 3 harvests per year without replanting rice on the shrimp base, which made cultivation more difficult from crops to farmers polluted environment, residual pathogens for shrimp, resulting in failed shrimp seasons. Later, people became aware of the importance of rotating a shrimp-based rice crop to clean up the environment and cut off pathogens for the next shrimp crop, and this method was successful.

Besides, the Soc Trang Provincial Party Committee, the My Xuyen District Party Committee, and the consensus of the entire political system from the province to the district and the municipality, with the right policies and guidelines, have maintained and developed the crop rotation model, becoming more and more efficient, and achieving many encouraging achievements , such as: The damage rate in farmed shrimp is declining (in 2022, the damage rate in shrimp will only account for 5.4% of the stocked area). Farmed shrimp production is increasing (in 2022, My Xuyen District’s farmed shrimp production is 48,451 tons, reaching 102.7% of the plan with a cultivated area of ​​17,700 ha). In addition, it has successfully produced over 50 hectares of certified organic ST25 rice and hundreds of hectares of high quality organic direction specialty rice…

Professors, graduate students and undergraduates at Tokyo University hold the shrimp-rice rotation model in My Xuyen District in high esteem, regarding it as a sustainable development model, environmentally friendly and an “intelligent” model that adapts to climate change.

The visiting delegates also asked many questions related to the fact that some households specialize in shrimp farming, the impact of tides and sea level rise on the shrimp-rice model, and the district’s commitment to maintaining and developing this model. At the same time, I hope to have the opportunity to work together to produce high-quality shrimp and rice products that ensure food safety and hygiene to meet the increasing demand of the world market.