Vietnamese tra farmers had a satisfactory year in 2011, but they do not feel happy because they foresee a lot of difficulties ahead, especially the lack of capital.
Pham Anh Tuan, deputy director general of the Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), has warned that many farmers would not have capital to resume tra fish farming.
According to Tuan, the average investment rate is VND 6 to 10 billion per hectare, and farmers need to borrow money at preferential interest rates to keep farming. However, since farmers’ assets have been mortgaged at banks, they now cannot access bank loans any more.
Nguyen Huu Nguyen, chair of the Chau Phu Fisheries Cooperative in An Giang province, complained that seafood processing companies that collect fish materials from farmers usually delay their payment, thus influencing the tra fish farming benefits.
Duong Ngoc Minh, General Director of the Hung Vuong Seafood Co., said that commercial banks now only provide short term loans, while tra farming is a long term investment process which requires big capital.
“One should not think of using short term loans to develop the tra fish farming which requires a long term investment and a lot of money,” Minh said.
