The Shrimp Culture of du Xiaozhong, a farmer in Qianjiang, Hubei Province

Crayfish, with its fast growth, high yield, strong adaptability and high economic benefits, has become the darling of aquaculture in our province. In the impression of most people, crayfish "can live in a stinky ditch", ignoring farming techniques and extensive farming.

In fact, intensive culture of crayfish in ponds is more cost-effective. Du Xiaozhong, a farmer in Dihu Office, Xiongkou Town Management District, Qianjiang City, from coarse breeding to intensive breeding, the benefit has reached a higher level.

Intensive cultivation mode opens a door

Du Xiaozhong now has a total of 70 mu of aquaculture water in four ponds, the annual yield of crayfish per mu is 300,600jin, and the profit per mu can reach more than 4000 yuan.

"in 2013, I adopted the mode of continuous cultivation of shrimp and rice. About 300 jin of commercial shrimp and more than 100 jin of shrimp seedlings can be produced in one mu of land." Du Xiaozhong said that he didn't understand the technology at first. "We are not familiar with how many seedlings we put, how to manage them, and how to sell them." Over the past two years, the production of lobster is not high, coupled with the planting of rice from January to June each year, the crayfish culture cycle is very short.

Du Xiaozhong switched to intensive farming in 2015, with a yield of more than 500 jin per mu that year, and the size of shrimp increased from 3 taels to more than 5 taels. "prawns are easy to sell, and intensive shrimp have a long cycle on the market." Du Xiaozhong's shrimp market opened up, and the profit per mu of that year exceeded 4000 yuan.

Intensive farming can achieve such benefits in one year, which makes many people jealous. In 2016, many nearby farmers followed du Xiaozhong's example and slowly joined the crayfish intensive culture team.

Look, the seedling density of grass is only 5000.

Du Xiaozhong said that after changing from the shrimp rice model to the intensive culture model, there are different options for the number of breeding seasons: if crayfish are still left at the bottom of the pond last year, they can be self-propagated and self-raised in the second year, and the total annual yield per mu can reach 600 jin. If you buy seedlings from outside, you can generally raise 2 crops, and the yield per mu is generally about 400 jin.

In the early stage of seedling, due to the relatively low temperature, Elorella is mainly planted, and the seedling size is relatively small, usually 100 tails / jin of shrimp seedlings, 50 jin per mu (that is, the density is about 5000 tails / mu), and can be listed in 30-45 days. The listing specification can reach more than 5 yuan.

When the temperature is relatively high in May, verticillium verticillata is suitable for reproduction when the water temperature is high, and the release specification can be slightly larger, generally you can choose 80 shrimp seedlings per jin, the breeding time is about 30-45 days, and the listing specification is more than 5 yuan.

"the density of intensive culture ponds generally does not exceed 5000 tails / mu, because if the density is too high, the crayfish culture cycle will be lengthened and the economic benefits will be very poor." Du Xiaozhong said.

Intensive cultivation must have a high harvest

Du Xiaozhong said that he had four ponds, managed by himself, used the same medicine, the same aquatic plants and the same management, and fed different feeds. As a result, he found that the output of brand feed was high and the quality was relatively good.

"Brand feed is more expensive, but safer." Du Xiaozhong said that in crayfish culture, feed accounts for only 15% of the cost, but it can effectively control the disease.

"according to the current crayfish farming area, apart from the pond infrastructure in the first year, the total costs of pond rent, water and electricity charges, labor, feed, animal protection products, planting aquatic plants, and ground cages for catching shrimp are calculated to be about 2300 yuan per mu. According to the selling price of 14 yuan per jin, the annual yield per mu is about 500jin, and the profit per mu can reach 4700 yuan."

Du Xiaozhong expressed satisfaction with the result. "Last year, many of our shrimp farming profits did not exceed 4000 yuan."

"in fact, the threshold for intensive cultivation of crayfish is not particularly high. As long as you choose a place where water can be guaranteed, be willing to invest and pay more, and carry out more water quality management, you can generally raise crayfish successfully." Du Xiaozhong said.