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Abstract
The study was carried out from June 2022 to December 2022 in aquaculture areas in Binh Dai, Ba Tri, and Thanh Phu districts, Ben Tre province. Data were collected from 60 households using the interview method based on prepared forms. The results show that bong-lao catfish farming in Ben Tre province has recently developed with the average farmer experience of 2.4-3.7 years. The production scale remains relatively small. Mainly using 1 to 2 earthen pond(s) that have area of 0.39-0.41 ha/household, bong-lao catfish are cultured in ponds converted from shrimp ones. The bong-lao catfish fingerlings are naturally sourced, with the size of 2-4 cm/individual from fishing households and 7-10 cm/individual from nursing households. The stocking season is from September to December and the average density is 1.7-3.0 inds/m2. After a farming period of 16.8-18.5 months, bong-lao fish reaches an average size of 1.5 kg/ind and the survival rate is 36.1-63.7%. Overall, average yield is 3.0-5.2 tons/household/crop with farming productivity of 7.8-12.8 tons/ha/crop and feed consumption ratio (FCR) of 2.5. With the production cost of 648.5-1,064.3 million VND/ha/crop and the revenue of 992.6-1,597.2 million VND/ha/crop, average profit of bong lao catfish culture fluctuates from 344.1 to 532.8 million VND/ha/crop and the profit ratio is 50.0-53.0%. The survey indicates that the source of fingerlings and the stocking density significantly affect productivity, with significance levels of 1% and 5%, respectively.
Keywords: aquaculture, Ben Tre province, bong-lao catfish