USSEC continues to support northern Vietnam’s aquaculture industry to operate and manage In Pond Raceway System (IPRS) farms. USSEC introduced IPRS technology to Vietnam in 2016, which was of interest to the Vietnamese aquaculture industry due to its ability to significantly increase production compared to traditional culture methodology. A number of IPRS farms have been constructed and operated in cooperation with USSEC Vietnam’s aquaculture program in northern Vietnam.
To continue helping IPRS farmers to operate and properly manage the system, and in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the USSEC team organized a merged virtual and physical seminar. This targeted an audience of those that are operating the first new model IPRS farms (two raceways constructed in over 20,000 m3, using the updated IPRS fixed raceway standards).
The three-hour seminar featured presentations and discussions among speakers and audiences on key issues. Three presentations were given by Hsiang Pin Lan, USSEC Asia Marine Aquaculture Specialist and Levy Manalac, Technical Consultant - Aquaculture, Southeast Asia, Philippines, and the meeting was moderated by USSEC Northern Vietnam Aquaculture Technical Manager Dr. Bui Ngoc Thanh. Mr. Pin Lan gave a talk on IPRS technology focusing on the main issues regarding the principles of IPRS and shared better approaches on fish health management relating to IPRS farming of tilapia with the target audiences. Mr. Manalac gave a presentation about 90% feeding satiation approaches that USSEC recommends for more efficient production. The seminar was useful to these target audiences because they are going to operate an IPRS farm for the first time.
“It is reasonable to apply the feeding 90% satiation that USSEC recommended, which will be helpful to manage feed waste in aquaculture then increase profit for farmers,” says Dr. Nguyen Dac Trien, Hung Vuong University, Phu Tho province, Vietnam.
Main freshwater fish production is based on earthen pond farming with traditional methodology. As more fish farmers have a better understanding about IPRS technology, more IPRS fish farmers operate and manage their system well, which should increase aquaculture production leading to a higher consumption of U.S soybean meal for aquafeeds in northern Vietnam.