Prawns in the padi

Farmers in parts of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, are turning to integrated rice-prawn farming in a bid to boost income. A study into the economic and environmental sustainability of rice-prawn farming found that prawn farming practices are unsustainable. Farmers relying on natural recruitment of wild prawns were losing valuable land to sediment. Alternatively, farmers stocking ponds with tiger prawn post-larvae from hatcheries risked losing their crop to disease. Encouraging farmers to reduce water exchange between their ponds and the delta, and to stock ponds with hatchery reared 'seedstock' will improve environmental sustainability. Until appropriate technology can be developed, simple pond management and financial management strategies have been introduced to reduce farmers' exposure to income risk from prawn production.

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