A few years ago, Le Van Giang and his wife, who live in Thanh Thuy commune, Le Thuy district (Quang Binh), invested in raising freshwater eels in the sand. The business developed well and gave the family an income of VND 4-5 billion every year but soon slowed down.

Giang said, “The continuous effect of the Covid-19 pandemic for several years in a row forced us to stop freshwater eel farming because a business with high economic value requires big investment. Meanwhile, the output market was almost closed, so we have to consider another path".

After a period of research and study at successful frog farms, Giang planned to be deeply invested in this "crouching" species. Taking advantage of the coconut tree garden that had grown tall enough to close the canopy, Giang worked on a system of floating ponds and lakes lined with tarpaulin. In the design, Giang placed a water inlet pipe at the start of the pond and a wastewater discharge valve and a system leading to the reservoir at the end of it to treat probiotics and clean the water before being discharged into the environment. “This form of pond is very flexible and it is easy to change the water. When it is time to change, I just need to open the valve and the water in the lake will dry up," he said.

To accumulate experience, Giang did not release the seed en masse but instead started with only 4 ponds. Feed for the frogs was purchased at a reputable enterprise in the market, not of unknown origin. To ensure the water was clean, Giang invested in building a large water tank containing over 200 m3 of water next to the frog farming area. Well water was pumped up to treat impurities, then new water followed the pipe system and went into the pond. “With this method, the rate of breeding frogs becoming commercially qualified frogs is very high. My farmed frogs rarely get sick and they grow fast".

The man both worked and studied frog farming for the first time, so the harvest was only enough to cover the production cost. A few batches later, each pond helped Giang earn approximately VND 20 million. "With only 4 ponds, I made VND 200-250 million per year," Giang said.

Aiming to expand the production scale, Giang invested in building 14 ponds in the frog farming area, 4 x 10 m wide each. The entire lake was arranged adjacently, located under large coconut trees and had a sparse roof system to avoid the sun’s influence. According to Giang, only 4 - 5 ponds were stocked at first with 10,000 seeds in each pond. After nearly a month, the frog grew so he had to locate them at different ponds.

“In roughly 3 months, the frogs are ready to be sold. The frog has a weight of 0.25 kg/head. The productivity of each pond is 2 tons of commercial frogs. After selling, I earned approximately VND 100 million. Excluding costs, each batch in one pond generates a profit of over VND 20 million. On average, raising 3 batches of frogs each year will result in a profit of over VND 60 million”. Having gained certain experience and results, Giang and his wife steadily increased the number of ponds.

Now Giang's family has stocked all 14 ponds. Taking us out to inspect the ponds, Giang said that some of the ponds have been stocked for more than 2 months and the frogs will soon be released to the market. Farmed frogs grow fast and have a low loss rate. "With such a large size, when it's time to sell, the output can be up to 2 tons of commercial frogs each pond, and most of the frogs meet grade 1 standards".

According to Giang, the investment in freshwater eel farming requires long-term capital because freshwater eels are harvested after 12 months. Meanwhile, investment in the pond system, feed, safety system costs several hundred million dongs every month. The solution to expanding the commercial frog pond is to "use short term and raise long term" in a reasonable way. “To be precise, if we raise all 14 ponds of frogs, every 3 months we will have a profit of VND 200-300 million. This money will go into the cost of raising freshwater eels. This is to limit loans, thus reducing production costs and increasing profits after harvesting the freshwater eels”.