Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods) is transferring “CARE Aquaculture Model”, a CP Foods- invented farming technique, to farmers across Thailand in bid to promote a safe and sustainable way for freshwater aquaculture.

Mr.Pairoj Apiruknusit, Executive Vice President at CP Foods, said food safety and sustainable consumption have become global trends. CP Foods, as a leading food producer, has developed a CARE model for freshwater aquaculture, which comes from C - Consumer; A- Achieve easily and consistently; R- Reliable System and E- Environmental Friendly. CP Foods has transferred the learning from this model to partners such as farmers and universities nationwide.

He added that CARE model is a farming technique that cares about consumers, both in terms of food safety and the environment, starting from the disease-resistant and fast-growing baby fishes. They are fed with aqua feed that made from carefully selected and high quality ingredients to provide the most nutritious fish.

The farm is designed to be environmental friendly. There is a circulating water system and efficient water treatment. As a result, most of the farming water can be recyclable. It is also energy-saving, applying the principle of Gravity Flow to move water from pond to pond without the need of an electrical service.

With good maintenance of fish health, they have better growth rate, better survival rate, and better feed conversion than the traditional farming method. It will also reduce or remove the need for antibiotics.

To further develop the sustainable model, CP Foods is looking for a possibility to apply technologies such as solar cells as well as feeder and aeration that can be controlled via mobile application to make it more environmental saving and easier to manage

“"This model was initiated to raise the quality of freshwater farming. It can prevent disease, reduce the use of chemicals and antibiotics, ” said Mr. Pairoj, adding that this new type of farming also give better yields of over 10 tons per rai, the cost of farming is 5% cheaper than usual.

He told that fishes are raised in clean and controlled environment, therefore, they are chemicals-free, resulting in a clean and safe produces.