A family in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam uses plastic boxes to raise crabs, a unique farming model with high financial returns.

Pham Thanh Son, 39, lives with his family in Cuong Gian Commune, Nghi Xuan District, Ha Tinh Province where they are expected to make a fortune raising crabs in plastic boxes.

Son spent several years raising crabs in a lake, but the high financial risks convinced him it was worth traveling to southern Vietnam to try his hand at raising the crustaceans in plastic boxes.

Earlier this year, Son and his family built a 600-square-meter crab farm where they could raise crabs in 6,000 plastic boxes worth nearly VND700 million (US$29,800).

Each of the plastic boxes measures 40 centimeters long, 22 centimeters wide, and 30 centimeters tall. 

They are all divided into two compartments, each containing one crab. 

Son typically buys baby crabs from other famers in Ha Tinh. 

Once they begin to grow, he transfers them to the plastic boxes.

The crabs are fed small fish, clams, mussels, and snails, which cost about VND40,000-50,000 ($1.7-2.1) a day.

It takes about two months before the crabs weigh 300-400 grams, at which time Son sells them to merchants and restaurants for VND600,000 ($26) per kilogram.

So far, Son's family has raised 1,200 crabs.

Le Anh Duc, deputy head of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nghi Xuan District, said that Son and his family are the first to farm crabs in plastic boxes in Ha Tinh.

Duc hoped that this model would bring high economic value and offer a new method for crab farming in the province.

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