The average number of days of rearing in lined earthen ponds was 81 days/batch (±22) and in tidal flats was 171 days/batch (±13.6). The longer number of days of rearing in tidal flats was due to the fact that the facilities aimed to harvest clams of different sizes. On the other hand, rearing in lined earthen ponds could not be extended if there was not enough space and the additional cost was quite large due to the need to pump water and labor costs.
The survival rate of clams raised in tarpaulin-lined earthen ponds was 67.1% (±19.5) on average and 29.6% (±16.1) on tidal flats. The survival rate of clams raised in tidal flats was 2.2 times lower than that of clams raised in tarpaulin-lined earthen ponds due to the longer rearing time and the dependence on natural conditions, especially wind and waves, changes in water environment and pests.
Table 4.16: Technical parameters for clam rearing on tarpaulin-lined ponds and tidal flats
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
Nursery area (m2/facility) | 913±479 | 1,400±490 |
Thinning area (times) | 0.3±0.5 | 38±46 |
Stocking density (1,000 fish/m2) | 136.2±58.4 | 148.5±81.6 |
Stocking size (1,000 fish/kg) | 507.9±333.5 | 329.6±357.6 |
Number of days of incubation (days) | 80.7±21.8 | 171±13.6 |
Survival rate (%) | 67.1±19.5 | 29.6±16.1 |
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Fluctuations in clam prices over the years
Medium-sized clams used in commercial farming come in many sizes, from 200 to 2,000 pieces/kg. However, during the survey of this study, we found that the common medium-sized clams that exploitation facilities sell to farming facilities as well as the farming needs of most facilities are mostly medium-sized clams with sizes from 200 to 500 pieces/kg. The price of this type of clam has increased steadily over the years, from 2005 to 2007, it increased by an average of 10 VND/piece/year. However, from the end of 2008 until now, the price has increased quite rapidly from 70 VND/piece in 2008 to 120 VND/piece in mid-2009 and to 160 VND/piece in late 2009. However, according to information from some directors of cooperatives/cooperatives, the price of this medium-sized clam has dropped to 120 VND/piece since February 2010. Because the price is too high, farming facilities have not released the seed for fear that the price of commercial clams will decrease again like in 2006 to 2007. On the other hand, this is the season with the most medium-sized clams in the year (Figure 4.5).
200
150
VND /child
100
50
T01/05
T04/05
T07/05
T10/05
T01/06
T04/06
T07/06
T10/06
T01/07
T04/07
T07/07
T10/07
T01/08
T04/08
T07/08
T10/08
T01/09
T04/09
T07/09
T10/09
0
Figure 4.5: Fluctuations in prices of medium-large clams (200-500 pieces/kg) from 2005-2009
4.4.3 Analysis of some financial indicators of clam hatchery
The average number of harvested fry from the nursery facility on lined earthen ponds was 81.6 million/batch (±56.7), the smallest being 3.2 thousand and the largest up to 234 thousand, depending on the survival rate. This yield was 2 times higher than that of the nursery facility on tidal flats.
The harvest size of clams raised in tarpaulin-lined earthen ponds is grade II, with an average of 94,000 clams/kg (±47.7) with an average rearing time of 80 days/batch (±21.8). Meanwhile, the harvest size of clams raised in tidal flats is medium, with an average of only 1,300 clams/kg, 72.3 times larger than the size of clams raised in tarpaulin-lined earthen ponds due to the longer rearing time (average of 90 days). On the other hand, it is difficult to raise clams to large sizes like in the wild in tarpaulin-lined earthen ponds due to limited area or other technical conditions as well as increased costs.
Table 4.17: Production, size and purchase price of clam seeds
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
Harvest output (million/batch) | 81.6±56.7 | 41.3±21.7 |
Harvest size (1,000 pcs/kg) | 94.0±47.7 | 1.3±1.0 |
Seed purchase price (VND/head) | 7.5±1.3 | 11.2±5.2 |
Selling price (VND/piece) | 20.4±3.4 | 100±30.3 |
The average selling price of clams in earthen ponds lined with tarpaulin is 20.4 VND/each (±3.4), ranging from 15 to 30 VND/each and lower than clams in tidal flats (average up to 79.6 VND/each) due to the large difference in harvest size. This is the price of harvested clams calculated according to the actual price in 2009,
However, this is the year that the price of clam seeds and commercial clams has increased to the highest level ever.
Fixed costs and structure
The average fixed cost of rearing in lined earthen ponds is 175.8 million VND/ha (±203.5), 3.3 times higher than the fixed cost of rearing on tidal flats. Because rearing in lined earthen ponds requires investment in pond construction, tarpaulins, and pumps.
In the fixed cost structure, the depreciation of basic construction for raising clams on tidal flats accounts for 46.6%, higher than the depreciation when raising clams on lined earthen ponds (26.6%). On the contrary, the depreciation of machinery and equipment for raising clams on lined earthen ponds is 65.2%, higher than that for raising clams on tidal flats (40.6%). On the other hand, raising clams on tidal flats requires an additional land rent of 12.7%, while raising clams on lined earthen ponds only uses the household's land area or cooperates with landowners.
Table 4.18: Fixed costs and structure of clam hatchery
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
1. Fixed costs (million VND/ha) | 175.8±203.5 | 13.0±10.5 |
2. Structure (%) | 100.0 | |
- Basic construction project (%) | 20.0 | 46.6 |
- Pond liner cost (%) | 14.8 | |
- Machinery and equipment (%) | 65.2 | 40.6 |
- Land rent (%) | 12.7 |
Variable costs and structure
The variable cost of clam nursery facilities on lined earthen ponds averaged 9,261.6 million VND/ha/batch (±4,568.1), 15.8 times higher than that of nursery facilities on tidal flats. Nursery on tidal flats had lower variable cost per hectare due to the larger can area (38 times) which was much higher than nursery facilities on lined earthen ponds (0.3 times).
In the variable cost structure, the two costs of seed and transportation account for the highest proportion, and rearing in earthen ponds with tarpaulin lining has a higher proportion than rearing on tidal flats (95.6% and 90.8%, respectively). On the contrary, rearing on tidal flats costs more in labor costs for guarding and harvesting than rearing in tarpaulin-lined tanks (5.1% compared to 1.9%). In addition, rearing on tidal flats also costs more in fencing to keep clams due to the large rearing area (2.7%).
Table 4.19: Variable costs and structure of clam hatchery
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
1. Variable costs (million VND/ha/batch) | 9,261.6±4,568.1 | 587.5±217.4 |
2. Variable cost structure | 100.0 | 100.0 |
- Seed and transportation (%) | 95.6 | 90.8 |
- Fuel, electricity (%) | 1.6 | 0.7 |
- Worker (%) | 1.6 | 2.4 |
- Sea sand (%) | 0.4 | 0.0 |
- Phone, transaction (%) | 0.4 | 0.7 |
- Harvesting cost (%) | 0.3 | 2.7 |
- Trees, nets (%) | 0.0 | 2.7 |
- Other (%) 0.1
Total cost and structure
The total cost for one hectare of nursery on a lined earthen pond is on average 9,437.3 million VND/ha/batch (± 4,592.9), 15.1 times higher than that of nursery on tidal flats. This is also reasonable because the nursery process also depends on the area of thinning and the total cost is calculated on the harvested area. In particular, the variable cost in the nursery model on lined tanks accounts for a fairly high proportion (99.6%) and is higher than when nursery on tidal flats (87.4%).
Table 4.20: Total cost and structure of clam hatchery
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
1. Total cost (million VND/ha/batch) 2. Structure | 9,437.3±4,592.9 100.0 | 600.5±215.6 |
- Permanent | 0.4 | 12.6 |
- Transformation | 99.6 | 87.4 |
Income, profit and profit margin
The average income of the facilities raising shrimp in lined earthen ponds was 14,785.8 million VND/ha/batch (±5,921.7), 12.7 times higher than that of raising shrimp on tidal flats. The average profit per hectare for raising shrimp in lined earthen ponds was 5,348.5 million VND (±4,021.9), 9.5 times higher than that of raising shrimp on tidal flats. The average profit margin for raising shrimp in lined earthen ponds was 0.70 times (±0.45), 1.36 times higher than that of raising shrimp on tidal flats.
Table 4.21: Income, profit and profit margin in clam seedling rearing
Item
Earthen pond with tarpaulin lining (n=15) | Tidal flat (n=5) | |
Income (million VND/ha/batch) | 14,785.8±5,921.7 | 1,160.4±507.3 |
Profit (million VND/ha/batch) | 5,348.5±4,021.9 | 559.9±409.7 |
Profit margin (times) | 0.70±0.45 | 0.51±0.57 |
In general, rearing in lined earthen ponds is more effective than rearing on tidal flats because it is less affected by natural conditions, better care and management results in a high survival rate. Moreover, other costs are also reduced compared to rearing in the wild.
4.5 Economic and technical analysis of commercial clam farming group
4.5.1 Organization and management forms in commercial clam farming
The current form of organization of commercial clam farming in the region still has 3 specific types of ownership as follows:
(i) Private/THV: this form is mainly concentrated in Can Gio (HCMC) and Go Cong Dong (Tien Giang).
(ii) Cooperatives or cooperative groups: this type of form is popular and has been formed and developed in most provinces in the research area, except Can Gio (HCMC). This is a community management model, considered the most advanced at present and in the trend of coastal resource management.
(iii) State organization: this type of organization is currently only found in the Go Cong Dong Sandbar Management Board (Tien Giang). However, according to the Sandbar Management Board, in the long term, it will follow the cooperative model, because the district is currently facing financial difficulties, so it must be maintained, despite many shortcomings in the policy mechanism.
4.5.2 Forms of commercial clam farming
Depending on the natural conditions of each breeding ground, each locality has different forms of breeding. Based on the source of breed, it can be divided into 2 main forms of breeding as follows:
(i) Raising with natural seed sources appears annually: this form exists in Binh Dai, Ba Tri (Ben Tre) and Tan Phu Dong Aquatic Cooperative, Go Cong Dong Sandbank Management Board (Tien Giang). Every year, only protection,
management and care for commercial breeding or exploitation of breeds for
Selling is the main thing, adding more seeds is insignificant.
(ii) Buying breeds for stocking: this form is available in most of the breeding grounds where there are no natural breeds or where there are natural breeds but they have to be exploited for sale due to the conditions of the grounds that cannot be preserved or are illegally exploited. However, depending on the specific conditions of each breeding ground, breeds of different sizes can be released.
4.5.3 Land area for commercial clam farming
The coastal alluvial land area is managed by the State. In order to exploit the potential of coastal land, the State has assigned it to organizations and individuals for management and production. In Can Gio district (HCMC) and Go Cong Dong (Tien Giang), it is mainly assigned to individual households, each household is assigned or leased about 01 ha. With this small area, adjacent households often gather into groups to pool capital for farming or transfer it to others. This area has changed little over the years from 2006 to 2009, from the average area of a facility of 17.6 ha in 2006 to 22.2 ha in 2009. In private clam farming facilities, the assigned area can all be used to raise commercial clams. However, the actual farming area tends to decrease over the years, from 17.6 hectares in 2006 to 15.4 hectares in 2009. This decrease in actual farming area is due to the death of farmed clams in late 2007 and early 2008.
Ha 25
20
15
10
5
0
17.6 17.6 17.6 17.6 17.6 17.6
22.2 22.2
22.2 22.2
16.4
15.4
2006 2007 2008 2009
Year
Assigned area, area capable of raising, actual area raised
Figure 4.6: Clam farming land area of private clam farming households. With the form of cooperatives/groups, the land area assigned to a facility is quite large.
large and unchanged over the years from 2006 to 2009, averaging 551.7 hectares.
(±.91.9). However, in the near future, when detailed planning is re-planned, the assigned areas will change. Not all assigned areas are
Clam farming is possible due to the presence of high sand dunes along the coast, muddy areas or areas that are ridged or low-lying during the stormy season. Therefore, the area capable of farming only accounts for 65.6% of the total allocated area and according to the survey results, there has been no change over the years.
The ratio of actual farming area/total allocated land area of these facilities is very low, averaging 20.4% and has almost not increased in the past 3 years due to the impact of a large number of farmed clams dying from late 2007 to early 2008. However, according to information sources from cooperatives/cooperatives and industry management boards, these facilities have been releasing a lot of clams since early 2010 until now because the price of commercial clams has not decreased but is showing a stable and increasing trend.
600
Ha
500
400
300
200
100
0
551.7
551.7
87.7
361.7
361.7
551.7
119.6
361.7
551.7
104.8
361.7
138.5
2006 2007 2008 2009
Year
Assigned area, area capable of raising, actual area raised
Figure 4.7: Production land area of clam farming cooperatives/groups
4.5.4 Information on personnel and operating capital of clam farming facilities
The survey results show that the number of members participating in clam farming cooperatives/groups has increased over the years. After 4 years of operation (2006-2009), the number of members participating in this form of production has increased more than 6 times. Due to the benefits of participating in cooperatives/groups, many members have been mobilized. When the cooperative/group was first established, the board of directors and the board of supervisors were elected by the members to manage and operate the cooperative/group and this group has been relatively stable over the years, fluctuating from 26-29 people/facility. In addition to this group of regular workers, the cooperative/group also mobilizes many members to work seasonally such as clam canning and harvesting commercial clams. This seasonal labor force is very large and increases or decreases depending on the annual clam harvest, with an average of 470 people in 2009, of which women account for about 40% (Table 4.22).
In the form of private production, a clam farm has many households linked together, in 2006 the average was about 18 households/farm and by 2008 it decreased to about 11 households and increased again in 2009 to 15 households. This increase and decrease was due to the impact of production losses from late 2007 and early 2008. Although the number of households in the group is large, the number of people directly involved in production is small, about 2 people/farm. Because the production area of private households is much smaller than that of cooperatives/groups, seasonal laborers hired are less, on average only about 160 people/farm in 2009, of which women account for the majority (about 80%).
Table 4.22: Information on personnel and operating capital of clam farming facilities
Item
Individual/Cooperative/Group
2006 2007 2008 2009 2006 2007 2008 2009
Number of members/facility (households, cooperative members)
18.0 | 18.0 | 11.4 | 15.1 | 324.0 | 854.6 | 882.2 | 1,849.3 | |
Number of management & security staff/person | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 26.3 | 27.6 | 29.3 | 29.4 |
- In which, Female (person) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
Number of seasonal workers (people) | 108.0 | 66.7 | 120.0 | 160.0 | 455.2 | 461.4 | 461.4 | 469.6 |
- In which, Female (person) | 83.2 | 44.0 | 95.1 | 128.0 | 186.7 | 189.4 | 190.4 | 191.5 |
Total capital of the facility (million VND) | 3,836.0 | 6,393.3 | 5,656.8 | 4,442.2 | 692.9 | 794.3 | 1,571.8 | 3,561.5 |
- Equity (%) | 23.2 | 23.2 | 23.7 | 6.8 | 83.8 | 92.9 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
- Loan capital (%) | 76.8 | 76.8 | 76.3 | 93.2 | 16.2 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Minimum capital contribution (million VND) | 46.0 | 46.0 | 122.9 | 82.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 |
Maximum contribution (million VND) | 300.0 | 300.0 | 308.6 | 300.0 | 35.4 | 45.8 | 65.7 | 90.0 |
Although the production land area of private establishments is less than that of cooperatives/groups, the total operating capital was much higher in 2006 (VND 3.8 billion compared to VND 0.7 billion). This operating capital increased year by year and increased quite rapidly in cooperatives/groups due to the increasing number of members and capital contributions as well as the annual increase in capital accumulation for production development of cooperatives/groups. In 2009, the operating capital of cooperatives/groups was almost equal to that of private establishments (VND 3.6 billion compared to VND 4.4 billion). This production capital source borrowed from outside by private production establishments was quite high, from 76.8% in 2006 to 93.2% in 2009. Meanwhile, cooperatives/groups initially borrowed from outside for production, but from 2008 to now, they have been completely proactive in their production capital sources.
The capital contribution of private establishments is quite high, the lowest is 82 million VND/household and the highest is 300 million VND/household (2009). Meanwhile, members of cooperatives/groups contribute less capital, the lowest is 1.3 million VND/member and the highest is 90 million VND/member. This capital contribution level is relatively stable from 2006-2009.