Dong Rui commune (Tien Yen district) has 2,753.75 ha of mangrove forest, accounting for 55.6% of the commune's natural land area. This is an ideal habitat for many kinds of seafood living under the forest canopy and the water surface which is a natural food source for ducks. Taking this advantage, many duck rearing households let ducks forage for food under the mangrove forest canopy, thereby creating Dong Rui sea duck eggs with unique flavor.
Currently, Dong Rui commune has 30 duck rearing households with around 17,000 ducks which produce about 15,000 eggs per day. To ensure product quality, the farming households established Dong Rui Breeding and Service Cooperative to help each other create a safe breeding process and sell the sea duck eggs at the same price. Previously, the breed ducks were taken from the Dai Xuyen duck research center under the National Institute for Animal Husbandry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. But now, many households have created their own breeds.
Since 2016 when the Dong Rui sea duck eggs was certified under OCOP product, it has been known by many people and quickly consumed.
Mr. Vu Tuan Anh, Director of the Dong Rui Breeding and Service Cooperative said that the cooperative members followed the grazing process in mangrove forests and let ducks forage for food in the natural environment. The local authority has also helped locals build a brand name for Dong Rui sea duck eggs. As a result, the Dong Rui sea duck eggs have become 4-star OCOP product.
It is known that from 1996 up to now, Tien Yen district and Dong Rui commune have cooperated with Japan’s Mangrove Restoration Action Organization, the Center for Natural Resources and Environment Research of Hanoi National University and local people planted magrove trees on a vacant area of more than 700 ha. Thanks to that, the natural habitat for seafood has been improved and extended, thereby creating favorable conditions to develop sea ducks in Dong Rui commune.
Translated by Thu Giang
