A Detailed Guide to 2019 Black Carp Prices and Farming Techniques
Black carp is a large-sized commercial fish, distributed only in the plain areas south of the Yangtze River in China. It is rich in a variety of minerals and is a premium species among freshwater fish. So what were the black carp prices like in 2019? And what farming techniques are involved?
I. 2019 Black Carp Prices
In the black carp market, the fish is mainly divided into three varieties: freshwater black carp, dark black carp and Chinese labeo, and the prices of these three varieties differ slightly depending on the place of origin.
1. Freshwater black carp
Xishan District, Kunming City, Yunnan: 10 yuan/jin; Simao District, Pu'er City, Yunnan: 10 yuan/jin; Shunyi District, Beijing: 10 yuan/jin; Tongzi County, Zunyi City, Guizhou: 0.75 yuan/fish; Shuifu City, Zhaotong City, Yunnan: 0.5 yuan/fish; Tongnan District, Chongqing: 1 yuan/fish; Hechuan District, Chongqing: 0.6 yuan/fish; Jinhu County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu: 10 yuan/jin; Yongji City, Yuncheng City, Shanxi: 9.17 yuan/jin; Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong: 11.5 yuan/jin.
2. Dark black carp
Wujin District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu: 13 yuan/jin; Kunshan City, Suzhou City, Jiangsu: 12 yuan/jin; Dingcheng District, Changde City, Hunan: 11 yuan/jin.
3. Chinese labeo
Hechuan District, Chongqing: 1.25 yuan/fish; Tongnan District, Chongqing: 1.8 yuan/piece.
The prices above are for reference only; the actual local prices shall prevail.
II. Black Carp Farming Techniques
1. Water area conditions
For farming, it is best to be close to an area with an abundant water supply and to ensure the water source is free of pollution. Supporting facilities for electricity and irrigation should also be fully prepared, and it is best to equip the pond outlet with pumping, oxygenation and other equipment. The farming pond should preferably have an area of 0.3 to 0.7 hectares, ensuring sunlight and ventilation for the pond. The pond bottom should finally be trimmed regular and flat, and a water depth of 2 m is optimal.
2. Pond disinfection
In the dry season, do a good job of cleaning, clearing and disinfecting the pond, such as moderately removing silt and other debris from the pond, but keep a 0.1 m thick layer of silt at the bottom. Then repair and reinforce the pond embankments to ensure reasonable water quality and water volume in the pond during the farming period. After the cleaning and disinfection work is completed, expose the pond to the sun for about twenty days, then mix 120 kg of quicklime per mu with water to make a solution and splash it over every corner of the pond. Finally, use the relevant tools to turn over the silt in the pond so that the lime solution and silt further blend, so as to eliminate pathogens and other harmful substances as much as possible.
3. Bait cultivation
About 9 days before stocking the fingerlings, apply organic fertilizer to the bottom of the pond. Generally, a mixture of quicklime, chicken manure and the like is applied to the pond as organic fertilizer, ensuring an application rate of about 280 kg per mu. Two days later, apply amino acid fertilizer water paste to the pond, ensuring a dosage of 1 kg per mu. Its main purpose is to cultivate beneficial plankton such as Epistylis, providing sufficient bait for the fingerlings stocked later. During actual farming, apply the amino acid fertilizer water paste once every 11 days, preferably at 0.8 kg per mu, so as to supplement nutrients for the plankton in the pond water, increase their reproduction speed and expand their distribution area.
4. Feeding
Special pelleted feed for black carp is relatively suitable for pond farming, because this type of feed has a high protein content and the pellets are fairly plump. The daily feeding frequency should reach about four times, and the amount of feed should not exceed 5% of the total weight of the black carp. In addition, different live biological baits can be fed according to different seasons. In early April, live snails can be put into the pond at a rate of 300 kg per mu, and in August, an additional application should be made at a rate of 200 kg per mu.
5. Disease prevention and control
Black carp has a relatively strong ability to resist diseases, so as long as the principle of giving priority to prevention and supplementing it with treatment is adhered to, the incidence of disease in black carp can be greatly reduced. Common disinfectants such as chlorine-containing preparations can be used regularly to spray the pond area in an all-round way, which can not only effectively regulate water quality but also prevent bacterial diseases in black carp. Feeding the pond with medicated bait made from Chinese herbal medicines, multivitamins and the like can effectively prevent diseases such as gill rot and enteritis in black carp. If black carp are found to be diseased, they should be diagnosed immediately and treated with the right medicine, and highly toxic drugs should be avoided in treatment.
As one of the important farmed varieties of bulk freshwater fish, black carp holds an important position in China's freshwater fish farming industry. Moreover, among the four major Chinese carps, black carp grows the fastest and commands the highest price, making it highly favored by farmers and consumers and giving it important economic value.