Vietnam

Vinh Hoan Corporation, Vietnam's largest pangasius exporter, recently announced that it will jointly invest US$2.15 million with a "mysterious" company to build a pangasius seedling plant in An Giang Province, Vietnam. Among them, Yonghuan invested 22.5 billion VND (970,000 US dollars), accounting for 45% of the shares, and another company accounting for 55% of the shares.

    Ly Nguyen, Manager of Investor Relations Department of Yonghuan Company, told UCN: “The newly built pangasius seedling plant will have two businesses, R&D and production, focusing on researching new technologies for incubation and nursery to improve the health of fish and fry.”

    It is said that this large seedling factory not only supplies seed to the farms under Yonghuan, but also supplies to nearby farms. The construction of the seedling plant is currently under public bidding, and the specific time schedule cannot be determined yet. Yonghuan said that once the bidding is completed, the project will start soon and will not be delayed for too long.

Vaccine technology promotion and application

    In August last year, Yonghuan Company signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement with the animal protection company Pharmaq. Through the commercialization of vaccines, it intends to reduce or eliminate the use of chemicals and antibiotics in pangasius aquaculture.

    "The cooperation with Pharmaq is proceeding as planned. The project is progressing smoothly and the number of vaccinated ponds is increasing. Of course, this technology will also be applied to the new seedling plant, so that all pansa fry will be vaccinated." Ly said .

    “In addition, investing in innovative projects in the processing and aquaculture sector is also the development strategy of Yonghuan. However, fry and fingerlings have always been the most important sectors of the pangasius aquaculture industry. We believe that in practicing new applications and promoting new technologies, Vietnam There is still a lot of room for improvement."

Pangasius industry is in urgent need of selection of improved species

    At the Vietfish conference held last year, many executives in the pangasius industry called on the industry to invest in the breeding of improved species. For the long-term development of the industry, Vietnam needs to improve the quality of pangasius, not the quantity.

    "In the past, no one was willing to invest in breeding work, mainly because the price was not ideal. Now the price has risen, and the demand in China has risen. Compared with three or four years ago, the economic situation of our industry has been greatly improved. It's time to add better varieties to the industry and develop advanced breeding models." A Vietnamese company executive said.

    Yonghuan CEO Vi Tam told UCN that the company has invested a lot of money in three areas: fish breeding, water quality and feed. In 2018, Yonghuan's R&D project received funding support of 10 billion VND. The company took the lead in seeking new innovations in the nursery and grow-out stage of pangasius.

    In 2018, the supply and quality of fish species are considered by the industry to be important factors affecting price fluctuations. Last year, the price of pangasius rose to a historical high, and this trend is likely to continue into 2019.

    An industry insider said in a speech last September that the number of fry in the pangasius industry in Vietnam has not increased to the expected level, and the cultivation of finished fish lacking quality fry has not improved. Most of the low-quality fry can not withstand the toss of climate and weather. The mortality rate of fry below 20 grams is astonishingly high, reaching more than 40%.

   "The long-term scarcity of pangasius fry affects the overall market price. Many farmers who have a bad relationship with the seedling farm cannot even buy high-quality fry. The mortality rate of those with the worst quality C-grade fry is too high." He said. , "The shortage of fry supply is not only happening now, and the problem will not get better in the next six months!"