New Freshwater Aquaculture Systems in the Red River Delta of Vietnam:
Evolution of a Key Role in Food Systems and Rural Development
Table 4. The Start-Up Period of Fish Production at Farms in Hai Duong
(Unit: household)
Period FS system AF system VAC system Total
1980–1996
1997–2005
2006–2014 23
17
11 27
31
7 8
22
5 58
70
23
Total 51 65 35 151
Source: survey, 2015.
the smallest area for the households
with the VAC system, the pond plays
an important role in effectively utilizing
households’ production resources and
recycling wastes. Fish farming was not
considered as a high priority because
it was employed by poor households
with limited agricultural land and cap-
ital investment. The main goal of their
farming is to meet their food securi-
ty and subsistence needs. In contrast,
among farmers engaged in animal/fish
The one-way ANOVA tests re- production and highly commercial fish
vealed changes in the household size, production, the fish production was the
paddy land, homestead land, agricul- major objective from the outset, rather
tural land, number of fruit trees, and the than the pond being simply a develop-
total head number of animals raised be- ment of the homestead and fruit or-
cause of their systems (Table 5). Farms chards.
with VAC systems had a larger number
and area of fruit trees than those of two Economic Effectiveness
other systems, but also fewer fish ponds and Efficiency of Freshwater
in the area. Additionally, the VAC Aquaculture Production Systems
households’ ownership of agricultural
n fact, freshwater aquaculture sys-
land was the smallest; the households
tems were greatly diversified and
with animal/fish production systems
intensified. There was increased
are characterized by more reared ani-
mals, paddy land, homestead land, and reliance on plant residue/manure, in-
more family members in comparison creased inorganic fertilizer inputs, and
with those of households belonging to use of low-cost feeds. Furthermore,
commercially intensive fish production some manure and inorganic fertilizer
systems. Although the fish pond was use requires aeration and closer fish
although this requires additional labor.
This opens avenues for on-farm or con-
current integration, both on small-scale
farms and in large-scale commercial
agri-businesses, with manure and fish
production taking place on the same
farm. At the community level, diversifi-
cation leads to opportunities for off-
farm integration (i.e. between- farms),
such as the sale of chicken manure
by poultry growers to specialized fish
farms.
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