In 2017, the market prospects for rice field eels are very good, but farming them is not easy

Rice field eel meat is tender and tastes fresh, with relatively high nutritional value, so it is deeply loved by consumers, and its market prospects are very good. But as rural pollution intensifies, wild rice field eels are becoming fewer and fewer, and most rice field eels on the market now are mainly artificially farmed. However, in 2017, wanting to raise rice field eels well is not easy, and with one careless move you may fall into farming pitfalls!

1. Seedling pitfalls

At present, artificial breeding of rice field eel seedlings is still in the exploratory stage, and there is no capacity to rely on artificial methods for large-scale seedling production. Under normal circumstances, experienced farmers mainly obtain wild rice field eel seedlings by catching them nearby or purchasing them. However, some inexperienced farmers will go to other places to buy so-called “extra-large” and “high-quality” rice field eel seedlings. In fact, these rice field eel seedlings are also wild rice field eel seedlings. Not only is their price far higher than the market price, but after long-term, high-density storage and transport, most of them are already diseased. After being put into the pond, the mortality rate can reach more than 80% within a short time.

Everyone must never buy seedlings from other places. As much as possible, choose rice field eel seedlings that have just been caught locally.

2. Technical pitfalls

Rice field eel farming has not yet been scaled up, and there is likewise no relatively systematic technical theory. Most farmers are crossing the river by feeling for stones. Of course, there are many books on rice field eel farming, but their content mostly copies fish-farming techniques or is impractical, and cannot provide much help for actual farming. Instead, it may bring some misleading effects.

Inexperienced farmers can first go to large rice field eel farming operations to study and visit, and then explore farming methods according to actual conditions.

3. Feeding pitfalls

Many farmers put rice field eel seedlings of different sizes into the same farming pond (net), which easily causes large seedlings and small seedlings to compete for food, and even causes large seedlings to eat small seedlings when feed is insufficient. In this way, although the large seedlings can grow quickly, the overall output value is very low.

In addition, some fish, mussels, and frogs will all prey on rice field eel seedlings, and small seedlings in particular are extremely easy to prey upon. Before putting seedlings in, farmers must thoroughly clean the pond.

4. Environmental pitfalls

Rice field eel farming is far from as simple as imagined, and has especially high environmental requirements. Many farmers, however, pay extremely little attention to the environment, which very easily leads to disease and even death of rice field eel seedlings. First, the pond water should not be too deep. If rice field eels frequently float to the surface to breathe, it will affect normal growth. The optimal water depth is 20~30 cm so that rice field eels can expose their heads above the water without swimming up; second, the water quality must be clean, and fertilizing the water to make it nutrient-rich should be avoided, otherwise it easily causes disease in rice field eels; finally, aquatic plants must be used to cover the water surface for shade and to purify water quality. Without aquatic plants, it is difficult to succeed in rice field eel farming.

5. Feed pitfalls

Some farmers use plant-based materials such as cornmeal, wheat bran, soybean meal, and vegetable leaves to feed rice field eels. Although rice field eels will eat them when hungry, they cannot meet the nutritional needs of rice field eels for growth. Rice field eels should be fed mainly with animal-based materials such as earthworms, fly maggots, yellow mealworms, and small trash fish, and then supplemented with a small amount of plant-based materials.

In addition, the feed used to feed rice field eels must be fixed, and arbitrary changes should be avoided, otherwise it will cause rice field eels to refuse food and affect normal growth. If feed needs to be changed, it should be done step by step and gradually transitioned.