Feed price increase drives fish farmers to dispair

The prices of animal feed generally and fish feed particularly have continuously increased whereas the growth rate in the consumer market is low due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, sending fish farmers in the Southern Province of Dong Nai fell into despair since the beginning of the year until now.

Accordingly, a 25-kg bag of the bran has increased by VND 30,000 from the beginning of the year.

Nguyen Van Ngoc, an owner of a fish-raised farm in La Nga commune in the Southern Province of Dong Nai’s Dinh Quan District, said that at this time in Dinh Quan district, the price of aqua feed increased by 20 percent-25 percent compared to the beginning of the year; however, traders have offered the old price of fish in the pond.

In La Nga commune, a number of farming households have reduced their farming area by 60 percent and the amount of fish by 40 percent compared to the previous crop.

Currently, a kilogram of snakehead fish in La Nga fetches VND38,000 - 39,000, while a kilogram of perch costs VND 23,000, and a kilogram of red snapper is sold at VND40,000. The selling price is VND2,000 - VND8,000 per kilogram even lower than the production cost.

With this selling price, farmers will be saddled with huge debts which will increase shortly because they are unable to repay the loan. Many fish farming households in Trang Bom District have lately stopped raising fish because of heavy losses.

A representative of a company in Trang Bom District said that raw materials such as corn, soybeans for animal feed production in the country are mainly imported from foreign countries presently.

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the supply of raw materials for animal feed has been interrupted; worse, many countries have been losing their crops, leading to a scarcity of raw materials, pushing up the prices. Accordingly, the Dong Nai Farmers' Association has petitioned for timely support policies for farmers.