What Are the Prospects for Toad Farming? A Detailed Guide to High-Efficiency Farming Techniques in Rice Paddies
The toad is a highly valuable amphibian and reptile used for both food and medicine. The toad skin shed naturally by the toad and the secretion collected and processed from the postorbital glands are precious traditional Chinese medicinal materials. So what are the prospects for toad farming? What farming techniques are involved in high-efficiency toad farming in rice paddies?
1. Prospects for toad farming
As wild resources decline, it is hard to see large numbers of toads in the wild, and China also crackles down hard on the capture of wild toads, with cases of people being sentenced. After 2017, market demand for toad venom has grown ever greater, and prices have risen all the way, from 3000 yuan per jin a few years ago to 5000 yuan per kilogram now. According to industry insiders, the toad venom currently purchased in China meets only 23% of demand, leaving a large market gap, so the prospects for toad farming remain considerable.
Collecting toad skin: a single live toad can yield toad skin from April to October each year, with a working period of 6-7 months in the northeastern region and 7-9 months in the southern region. At least two skins can be shed each month. 2000 toads can produce 24000 pieces of toad skin in 6 months. Calculating at a single weight of 0.3 grams per toad skin, this yields 7.2 kilograms of toad skin. At an intact-skin rate of 80%, this yields 5.76 kilograms of intact toad skin, which at a conservative price of 10000 yuan/kilogram creates a value of 57600 yuan; the thin skins produced amount to 1.44 kilograms, which at a conservative price of 6000 yuan/kilogram creates a value of 8640 yuan. That is, 2000 toads used for one year of toad skin collection can yield a profit of 66240 yuan.
Collecting toad venom: a single live toad can yield toad venom from April to October each year, with a working period of 6-7 months in the northeastern region and 7-9 months in the southern region. Toad venom is collected twice a month. 2000 toads can produce 1 kilogram of toad venom per month. At a conservative price of 3000 yuan, 6 kilograms of toad venom can be produced in 6 months, creating a value of 18000 yuan. If local wild toads are large and you purchase them from surrounding areas or have people catch toads for you, the investment is even lower and the returns will be even higher.
2. High-efficiency toad farming techniques in rice paddies
Field and pond setup: choose a relatively quiet field with convenient irrigation and drainage. Surround the rice paddy with 0.8 m high dense nylon netting, with an inner ridge width of 1.5 m to make it easy for toads to come ashore and move about, and install netting at the water inlet and outlet to prevent toads from escaping. Dig a small pond on one side of the rice paddy right next to the ridge for raising small tadpoles; the pond area should be no less than 1/6 of the total area. If the farming paddy is too large, several small ponds can be set up separately. The pond water depth is 40 cm, and a water injection pipe with a diameter of 1 cm is installed above the pond, with a water outlet on any side of the ridge, enclosed with polypropylene netting. A mesh of 60 openings per square centimeter is suitable.
Tadpole stocking: first use 15 kilograms of quicklime for dry pond clearing of the small pond, then add water after 7 days, add 100 kilograms of fermented organic fertilizer to the pond, and put the tadpoles into the pond after 5 days. When stocking, choose uninjured, robust tadpoles of uniform size, disinfect them with 1.5% salt water, and stock them at 6000 to 8000 tails per mu of rice paddy. The temperature at stocking should not be lower than 20%.
Toad pond management: while ensuring micro-flowing water, the small pond only needs to keep water quality from deteriorating under the action of leftover bait. Feeding should preferably be done in multiple small amounts, with floating powdered self-mixed feed, until metamorphosis. After the young toads complete metamorphosis and lose their tails, set up a circular feeding platform with a steel wire mesh bottom in the center of the small pond, feed live bait (earthworms, fly maggots, etc.) and floating pellet feed every day, and at the same time add water from the injection pipe during feeding to set the floating pellet feed in motion and train the young toads to feed. At the beginning, the proportion of live bait is relatively large, then gradually decreases. After the young toads develop the habit of feeding at fixed points, the net enclosure of the small pond can be opened and the young toads released into the rice paddy to forage freely.
Field management: after the young toads enter the rice paddy, keep the field water relatively clear at first. In hot summer, the field should be frequently irrigated with "horse-running water" to regulate water temperature and water quality. In addition, if rice diseases occur, pesticide spraying should be done on sunny days, with the nozzle facing upward, with fine mist, and as far as possible without letting the pesticide settle. Once pesticide deposits in the field become too concentrated, immediately add water to regulate it. Under normal circumstances, no pesticide needs to be applied, because toads have the ability to catch pests. In the field, young toads must be protected from natural enemies such as snakes and hawks. Toads generally do not become ill under natural conditions, but care must be taken to avoid mechanical bruises that cause external wound infection. Therefore, special care is needed when catching them, and only cloth bags may be used. Two months after the young toads are released into the rice paddy, screen them once a month thereafter, catching the large ones and leaving the small ones. After being caught, place them in dedicated farming ponds so that toad skin and toad venom can be collected, or sell them.