Stuffed snails are easy to raise, easy to consume, and highly profitable

Stuffed snails are easy to raise, the main food is duckweed, green vegetables, cereals… However, this is a product that is in great demand and high profit.
Stuffed snails (also known as convex snails) native to the Ha Trung lowland plains (Thanh Hoa) have entered the folk life: “Want to eat convex snail crabs/Give children and marry to people in the field” has been handed down to now Now as a message about the stuffed snail, which was the potential of Ha Trung land before, is now becoming a commodity product.

Stuffed snails are currently a popular food in the market. Growing commercial stuffed snails is a new economic development direction, many farmers have escaped poverty to get rich. Stuffed snails are easy to raise, do not cost investment but give very high efficiency. Photo: LNC. Ha Son is currently one of the communes with the largest number of people and area for commercial snail farming (with 9 farming households) along with a lot of experience in aquaculture. such as Mr. Nguyen Xuan Bac 5 sao, Pham Hong Hien, Nguyen Xuan Hai (3 sao each), Mr. Tran Van Binh 4 sao… Many households in Yen Son commune (Ha Trung district) also raise snails stuffed with nets. , reaching an income of 35 – 40 million VND / sao (excluding costs), the profit is 2-3 times higher than that of some other aquatic products. Recently, Ha Trung District People’s Committee has implemented a model of linking commercial stuffed snail farming according to the value chain associated with product consumption in Yen Duong commune. The model for assessing the adaptability, productivity, income and economic efficiency of stuffed snails originated from Tam Phuc Aquatic Breeds Co., Ltd (Yen Dinh district), transferring technical advances to farmers. commercial stuffed snails, forming a chain of production and consumption of products. Before the implementation, 2 selected farmers, Mr. Le Van Tuy and Mr. Le Xuan Dau (Yen Duong commune) signed a commitment to participate in the implementation of the model (along with 20 other households in the commune) approved by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. District Agricultural Service cooperates with District Farmers’ Association to train and disseminate technical knowledge on commercial stuffed snail farming. Accordingly, Mr. Tuy used 800 m2 of farmland for farming ponds, and at the same time received 80,000 seed snails; Mr. Dau uses 700 m2 of farmland to build a pond and receive 70,000 snail seed. Each nest of stuffed snails minus the cost, can give an income of over 60 million VND. Photo: LNC. Households participating in the model receive free support on seeds and techniques. Before stocking snails, the pond is dredged clean, sprinkled with lime powder to neutralize the pH in order to eliminate all kinds of carp, carp, and turtle that can eat snails. The pond bank is cleared of bushes to avoid nesting mice and convenient when harvesting. In ponds, put water hyacinth and water spinach to increase the coolness of the pond and create more places for snails to cling. The water level in the pond is maintained from 0.8-1.5m. The measured pH is 6.5 – 8; Dissolved oxygen reached the permissible threshold, the stocking density of snails was 100/m2 of pond, the weight was from 0.4 – 0.6 grams/individual. Selected snail seed are healthy, good quality, shell is not chipped, stamped, top shell is bright color. When stocking snails, take water from the pond and pour it into pots, drop the media (female duckweed, cassava leaves…) and put the snails in a pot to soak for 10-15 minutes to balance the living environment. pots and then slowly drop the seed snails into the pond gently to avoid building the shells and damaging the snails… The main food of stuffed snails is duckweed, green vegetables, cereals. Snails have the habit of both floating and living on the bottom, moving slowly and unevenly distributed in the pond, often concentrated in some areas in the pond. Therefore, it is necessary to create different terrains and depths to diversify habitats for snails and easily monitor and care for snails. Ha Trung district (Thanh Hoa) is aiming to build the farming of stuffed snails into commodity production, associated with OCOP products. Photo: LNC. After stocking snails until 2 months old, there is no need to change the water. To the 3rd month of culture, change the water once every 2 weeks, each time changing 3/4 of the water in the pond. In the households in the model in Yen Duong commune, due to good management and care techniques, snails grow well, evenly and healthy. After 3 – 4 months of farming, snails reach a commercial snail weight of 25 – 30 pieces/kg, then start harvesting. Use a boat to go around the pond to catch big snails (in the morning) because snails cling to plant leaves, cassava leaves, and duckweed roots to eat, so harvesting is easy… According to the calculations of the households in the model, minus costs, the profit reached 61 million VND/sao (an increase of more than 20 million VND/sao compared to current farming experience). In addition to economic efficiency, the technique of raising stuffed snails is quite simple, the care is not too complicated. The main food for snails is clean and easy-to-grow vegetables, raising stuffed snails has no adverse impact on the ecological environment… Ha Trung district has recently provided technical training for 70 farming households and households wishing to raise stuffed snails to continue replicating in the district, towards building product brands (OCOP). In the early morning, snails often float to the surface, clinging to cassava leaves and duckweed to eat, so farmers can know which areas are more concentrated, avoiding excess or lack of food. Food for snails must be clean, leave the whole plant, leaves, not chopped because snails have the habit of sticking to the surface of the leaves to eat. Only feed concentrates (cereals) once a day. Adjust the amount of food according to the snail’s ability to eat (from 0.5-1% of the snail weight in the pond).