Duck raising in closed farms has brought in more profits for Mekong Delata residents than free-range duck raising.

The new method has boosted disease control and healthier breeding, especially since the outbreak of avian flu a few years ago.

Nguyen Quoc Nam, a resident of Thap Muoi District in Dong Thap Province, now earns up to VND40 million (US$2,300) per year after he made the move from free-range.

“Before, I had to follow ducks from one province to another. It was quite hard,” said Nam.

Nam said that people raising wandering ducks even had to hire vehicles to transport the ducks, then hire land for the ducks so they could feed.

Moreover, the risk is high because breeders cannot control diseases in their duck flocks, since many different flocks can be dropped in the same field.

“Many households were left impoverished after ducks got diseases and died,” he said.

The situation eased after the farming model was applied in the province.

With the instruction by staff from the province’s Agricultural Techniques and Expansion Centre, Nam started to raise 500 ducks on a farm of 2,000sq.m. He planted fruit trees to shade the ducks and dug a pond to raise fish, using ducks’ stools for food.

“When epidemics broke out in the commune, my ducks weren’t affected because they are injected with preventive drugs regularly in a clean environment,” said Nam.

Raising poultry using bio-safety methods has also been launched in other provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta area such as An Giang, Tay Ninh, Long An, Binh Duong, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Tien Giang, according to Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy head of the Department of Livestocks Breeding.

Trinh The Thanh in Chau Thanh District of An Giang Province now has 1,300 ducks, which earns him a tidy VND90 million ($5,200) per year.

“My ducks have never suffered from diseases,” he said.

Phan Thanh Binh in Tinh Bien District of An Giang Province is raising some 2,500 ducks in his 2ha-farm and gets a profit of more than VND355 million ($20,000) per year.

“With this model, I can control the number of eggs laid and administer regular preventive injections,” Binh said.

According to Pham Thi Hoa, deputy director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the model is designed to prevent the occurence of avian flu.

With more than 2.2 million ducks, An Giang Province has the second largest number of the poultry in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta area. More than 87 per cent of households still raise wandering ducks. Hoa said that the province wanted to see 50 per cent of households raising ducks on farm by the end of 2008.

According to statistics supplied by the Department of Livestocks Breeding under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total number of ducks raised in 10 provinces of the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta ranges between 18 and 20 million per year. However, since the outbreak of avian flu in the country, farmers in the region have lost more than 10 million ducks.

“It’s time to strengthen the development of raising ducks in farms with proper control on diseases,” said Nguyen Thanh Son.

Son added that the model has more advantages than raising free-range ducks, since farmers can control and prevent disease epidemics and reduce environmental pollution. They can also raise fish in farms to boost their income.

“When the avian flu broke out in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region last year, all farm-ducks escaped it,” said Pham Thi Hoa.

However, Son also said that the model was applied haphazardly throughout the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region because many farmers could not afford to set up farms for duck raising.

The raising of free-range ducks has been a traditional job in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces, where there are large crop fields. Free-range ducks can be let loose around the fields to find their food; farmers only have to feed them in their first two or three weeks.

Many farmers still raised ducks in this old method due to low investment capital, said Nhi Thi Kim Bach, head of the Department of Veterinary of Thap Muoi District in Dong Thap Province.

“Duck raising in closed farms will need considerable initial investment in order to take off,” she said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked the National Agricultural Expansion Centre and other relevant units to improve the training for farmers. Provinces are being asked to support farmers to set up farms for the sake of the country’s sustainable development.

Currently, Dong Thap Province has the largest number of ducks in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region with more than 4 million. By the end of 2007, the country had more than 68 million ducks.

The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta region exports about 52,000 of duck eggs per year. (VNS)