What Is the Biggest Difficulty in Leech Farming? A Detailed Guide to Scientific Breeding Techniques

In recent years, many friends in the farming industry have been switching to other trades; some have started growing lotus roots in their ponds, and some have simply contracted the ponds out to others. But some farmers have spotted a business opportunity: leech farming. Nowadays, leech farming is becoming more and more common in many places, and the market price has remained high. So what should you pay attention to when farming leeches? Let's take a look together.

What Is the Biggest Difficulty in Leech Farming

1. The variety problem. Although there are many varieties of leeches, the leech variety that can be artificially farmed is the golden thread leech (Whitmania), which is the collective name for Whitmania pigra, Whitmania laevis and Whitmania acranulata. Only Whitmania pigra is most suitable for artificial farming; the benefits of the other varieties are not very good, so they must be identified when introducing stock.

2. The benefit problem of introducing stock. Because the market price has climbed, leeches have become a low-cost, high-efficiency farming project, but the benefits are not always very good. It is common to see some units and individuals selling seedlings passing off seedlings with poor farming benefits as high-quality or purified superior breeds, which ultimately causes heavy losses for farmers.

3. The specification problem of introducing stock. Leeches only have reproductive capacity after growing for more than 2 years. Do not introduce stock when the body weight is below 15 g, and do not introduce stock after June, so as to avoid introducing leeches that have already laid eggs or young leeches, which would result in no benefits that year.

Scientific Leech Farming Techniques

1. Whether using earth ponds or mud pits in front of or behind the house, or in rivers and lakes, although there are many different farming methods, they can be summed up as two ways: extensive wild farming and intensive fine farming. Which farming method to choose should be based on the local actual situation and adapted to local conditions.

2. Where conditions are poor, local materials can be used and extensive wild farming adopted; where conditions are better, the intensive fine farming method can be adopted, that is, building high-standard breeding ponds to provide a relatively ideal ecological environment for the growth and reproduction of leeches, and obtaining a higher yield per unit area through factory-style farming.

3. Finally, harvesting is carried out. Generally there are reservoir farming, pond farming, swamp farming, lake farming, river channel farming, lowland farming and rice field farming, etc. These methods have a relatively large farming area, sufficient light, abundant natural bait, small investment and large returns.

What Kinds of Leeches Are There

1. The Japanese medical leech, also called the medical leech (Hirudo nipponia), has a narrow, long and slightly flat body, roughly cylindrical, with a body length of 3-5 cm and a width of 4-5 mm (fixed), green with black on the back, and 5 yellow longitudinal lines. The ventral surface is flat, grayish green, with no variegated markings. The number of body rings is 103. The clitellum is not prominent, occupying 15 rings. The male gonopore is between rings 31-32. The female gonopore is between rings 36-37.

2. The tea-colored leech, also called cattle leech, is slightly smaller than Whitmania pigra, willow-leaf shaped, flat, with a brownish green back, and longitudinal lines formed by 5 rows of fine dense green-black spots. The ventral surface is light yellow, very flat, scattered with irregular dark green spots. The rest is similar to Whitmania pigra, and it is distributed in most parts of the country.

How Much Does It Cost to Farm Leeches

1. The main costs of leech farming are seedling costs, land rent, digging the base and building anti-escape nets, etc. Taking 5 mu of farming area as an example, the funds for renting land are about 5000 yuan, digging the base is about 4000 yuan, and the anti-escape net is about 3000 yuan; this part of the investment is about 12,000 yuan.

2. In addition to this cost, farmers also need breeding bait, with a purchase cost of about 3000 yuan. In addition, the most important thing in leech farming is naturally the breeding leeches; the cost of 250 kg is about 80,000 yuan. Adding 12,000 yuan in management fees, 200 yuan in disinfection fees and a small amount of water and electricity fees, the upfront investment is about 100,000 yuan.

3. The leech is a traditional special medicinal aquatic animal in China. It lives in rice fields, ditches, shallow polluted pits and ponds, and other places. It has strong survival ability, is fond of sucking the blood of humans and livestock, moves very agilely, can swim in waves, and can also move in a looper-like manner. In winter it often lies dormant in the wet mud near the shore, not eating or moving.

Failure is the mother of success. Much farming requires exploration in the early stage, but during this process of exploration one will encounter an industry that is despised, hated, rejected and cursed from beginning to end. Advertisements will say “Farming leeches requires no technical skill at all; they can grow even in a river. I supply you the seedlings and guarantee you will make money.” Everyone needs to guard against being cheated by this.