Executing R&D in commercial scale shrimp grow-out systems is highly challenging and requires a delicate balance between meeting commercial imperatives whilst preserving scientific rigour. To meet this challenge, Viet-Uc in Vietnam have partnered with the Livestock and Aquaculture program at CSIRO in Australia. Since its inception in 2017, a collaborative project between Viet-Uc and CSIRO has focused on developing technologies to sustain profitable, super-intensive indoor Penaeus vannamei shrimp farming in Vietnam. These technologies involved taking a multi-factorial approach to how such super-intensive grow-out systems are designed and managed.
Six commercial-scale experiments (90 to 100 days of culture) were completed across different seasons using two commercial greenhouses, each containing 14 plastic lined ponds (500 m2), which allowed for 4-6 replicate ponds per treatment. Diverse and comprehensive data was collected and analysed from 132 ponds in total. Experimental designs systematically refined and retested new protocol versions based on learnings from the preceding experiments. Complimentary R&D included economic modelling, assessing shrimp health, pathogen monitoring and biosecurity, as well as investigating precision farming strategies such as new sensor technologies and machine learning.
The culture environment was substantially improved throughout the project via optimal water quality and low pathogen loads. This led to healthier shrimp with average survival rates above 90% and consistent yields above 40t/ha equivalent. When combined with economic modelling to reduce costs, increases in net profit margins up to 25% were reported.
Our project highlights the benefits of performing production systems research directly on farm and taking a whole-of-systems approach to deliver a profitable, sustainable, and consistent indoor, high-intensity farming systems for Whiteleg shrimp, P. vannamei.