Pelletedfeed gradually replacingfarm-made feed in Vietnam''s fish farms

Farm-made feed used in Vietnam''s fish farms are gradually replaced by pelleted feed as farmers find the cost of raw materials too prohibitive, according to a UN FAO study on the cost efficiencies across five Asian countries.

The study: "Economics of aquaculture feeding practices in selected Asian countries" covered field survey for farms in Asia between 15 October 2005 and 14 February 2006.

This study showed that in Vietnam, even as farm-made feed showed better net returns than manufactured feeds, it was gradually being replaced by manufactured pelleted feed because of the reduced supply and increased price of feed ingredients.

There were also increasing concerns over the impact of environmental pollution caused from farm-made feed.

The report noted that aquaculture had developed at an accelerated rate in Vietnam, especially in the Mekong River Delta with two major commercial species, black tiger shrimp and sutchi catfish.

Feeds are considered to be the main concerns for any further development in farming catfish, the report said.

The general objective of the study was to assess the economic implications of adopting various feeding practices in catfish production in Vietnam, focusing on 60 pond catfish farmers in An Giang province.

The study divided the farmers into i) intensive farms: farms using manufactured pelleted feed; (ii) semi-intensive, with farms using a combination of farm-made & manufactured pelleted feeds; and (iii) traditional, with farms using farm-made feed.

All farmers have had some experience attending training courses offered by governmental authorities and/or by private sectors such as feeds and drugs and chemical suppliers.

The average total pond area per farm ranged from 0.86 ha to 1.50 ha with average pond sizes ranging from 0.27 ha to 0.77 ha. The productivities of all three categories were very high but vary widely by farm category.

The semi-intensive farms had the highest production of 243 900 kg/ha/year, followed by intensive, 240 200 kg/ha/year and traditional 157 500 kg/ha/year.

The report noted that the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of farm-made feed was the highest.

The total pelleted feeds produced from catfish feed producers were estimated from 100 000 to 150 000 tonnes in 2004.

The nutritional quality of pellets is almost similar with protein content differing according to the fish sizes.

Pelleted feeds for small size fish contained higher protein than that for larger fish sizes.

However, it was reported that the protein contents of manufactured pelleted feed for catfish are lower than requirements.

Vietnam''s farm-made feed is prepared by cooking various feed ingredients such as rice bran, broken rice, trash fish and vegetables. This farm-made feed is usually produced in moisture form and has a low protein level of around 10.8 percent in dry weight basic ( large fingerlings typically require 36.1 percent protein).

The unit cost of feeds varied by feed types particularly between manufactured pelleted (intensive) and farm-made feeds (traditional). The unit price for manufactured pelleted feeds depended on protein levels, which averaged US$0.34/kg. Farm-made feed price was generally priced lower (US$0.18/kg) due to their low protein content and as well as the utilization of cheap feed ingredients.

The total production cost per hectare per year varied from US$66,658/ha/cycle for traditional systems to US$144,338/ha/cycle for intensive systems

The high level of investment in intensive farming meant small-scale and less capital endowed farmers would not be in this segment of the market.

The average gross revenue of all farm categories was estimated at US$126,134/ha.

One reason for the higher revenue for intensive farmers was that catfish fed with manufactured pelleted feed has a brighter flesh, which commands a higher price premium.

Selling prices of catfish sold by traditional and semi intensive farmers are almost similar at US$0.54/kg and US$0.56/kg, respectively while intensive farmers reported the highest average actual selling price of US$0.66/kg.

However, traditional farmers registered the highest net return of US$21,515/ha per year.