Pangasius managers and experts gathered in a conference on February 7, 2012 in Can Tho to review the industry’s performance in 2011 and plan for 2012.Sound good, but really so?
Minister Cao Duc Phat speaking at the conference on February 7, 2012
According to the National Steering Committee for Pangasius Production and Marketing, the total Pangasius farming area in the Mekong delta hit 5,430 ha last year with production exceeding 1.195 million MT and export value surpassing US$1.8 billion (up 26.5% year on year). The fish was shipped to 135 markets, particularly EU, the US, ASEAN, and Brazil, etc.
According to a representative from the State Bank of Viet Nam, Pangasius farmers borrowed more than VND44,500 billion last year, up 27% compared to 2010. By the end of 2011, the total loan provided for the purchase and processing of the fish amounted to VND12,651 billion. Providing loan for agriculture, including aquaculture, will continue to come high on the list of State Bank’s priorities in 2012. |
The vertical collaboration between various stakeholders in the value chain was reported to have improved. Many new partnership models were launched, including the chain linkage in An Giang, cooperatives, coalitions and clubs in others. However, the cooperation was not really strong in some places and as some contracts between processors and farmers were broken. A number of farmers did not signed selling contracts with the processors and exporters, either.
Dr Nguyen Huu Dung, Vice President of VASEP, said the industry’s most remarkable success last year could be seen in the more consolidated supply chain, including the hatcheries, feed manufactures, farmers, processors and exporters.
According to Dung, 70% of the fish now come from the companies’ farms and the farmers they work with. However, he questioned the profitability of the fish farming. “Last year, we shipped more than US$1.8 billion but how much did the locals benefit from that?” Dung said, pointing to the lack of data on fish farming, processing, and marketing performance. “Perhaps, in 2012, we should pay more attention to the profitability of the industry rather than the export volume and value.”
Seed, feed production – a major setback
The VASEP Vice President said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) should take a close look at the weakest part of the supply chain: seed production.
“Bad juveniles cannot make good fish. However, few companies invested in hatcheries; they just let the farmers run the business shabbily,” said Dung.
According to a report released by the Directorate of Fisheries (D-Fish), there are 220 Pangasius hatcheries in the Mekong Delta. The seed production was approximately 2.4 billion, roughly meeting the demand.
The decline in seed production was said to be one the main reasons for poorer farm performance and more disease outbreaks than 2010. Inbreeding and forced reproduction have driven the quality of broodstocks and juveniles down.
“The Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 2 has handed out 85,000 out of the pledged 100,000 the broodstocks to the local hatcheries with a view to replace the current broodstock populations with higher quality ones,” said Pham Anh Tuan, Vice General Director of D-Fish.
Many measures to support fish farmers
Minister Cao Duc Phat: The Ministry will keep working to improve the fish quality and value to expand the market. He requested the State Bank to taken more drastic measures to provide fish farmer and processors with better credit access. He also asked the Ministry of Finance to consider giving farmers value added tax refunds. MARD will take a close look at the environmental and inspection fees and make necessary adjustment. |
Feed quality and price were another matter of concern. Currently, feed accounts for 60-70% of the production cost but its quality does not match the price and feed producers have not made any move to change that.
Starving for cash Mr Duong Ngoc Minh, General Director of Hung Vuong Corp said the lack of capital would be a critical issue facing Pangasius farmers and processors this year. According to Minh, farmers pay about VND1.4 billion (US$70,000) just to get enough fish juveniles to stock in a 1 ha pond. The farming period is long but the period and amount of loan were limited. A fish crop typically lasts for 8-10 months; however, farmers can borrow for just 6-9 months, Minh said.
He noted that the industry would need about VND26,000 billion to produce 1.3 million MT of raw fish as expected this year.
Vo Van Thanh, a fish farmer in An Nhon commune (Chau Thanh, Dong Thap) said, “The amount of money that farmers can borrow depend on their collateral. Often, it is less than half of the investment need.”
About VND6.3-6.6 billion would be needed to produce 300 MT of fish on one hectare of water surface area. However, farmers can borrow less than VND1 billion from the banks, Thanh said.
Mr Dao Anh Dung, Vice Chairman of Can Tho People’s Committee shared the same thoughts. To reduce the financial burden for farmers, he said the Committee would request the State Bank to allow farmers to put the reared fish in pledge beside their land and other assets.
Delayed payment by the processors (2-3 months, even one year) also put the fish farmers in a worse financial situation. “There are no ways to deal with the issue of delayed payment. Some have proposed a sample purchase contract but cannot clarify who would be the arbitrator. If the farmers bring the dispute to the court, they have to wait 3-6 months before a sentence is brought in and some more time for law enforcement. It will be too late then,” said Binh.
By TRUONG NGO BICH NGOC
Compiled by THANH PHUONG
Many measures to support fish farmers
Minister Cao Duc Phat:: The Ministry will keep working to improve the fish
quality and value to expand the market. He requested the State Bank to
taken more drastic measures to provide fish farmer and processors with
better credit access. He also asked the Ministry of Finance to consider
giving farmers value added tax refunds. MARD will take a close look at the
environmental and inspection fees and make necessary adjustment.
Minister Cao Duc Phat speaking at the conference on February 7, 2012