Analysis of the Prospects for Centipede Farming: Market Potential and Development Space

Summary: Centipedes have a history of several thousand years as a traditional animal-based Chinese medicinal material. In recent years, with the rapid development of the centipede detoxification and pharmaceutical industry, the supply of centipedes has become scarce. Based on the domestic medicinal market situation, and as learned from the National Special Breeding Information Conference: because people have long used chemical fertilizers and pesticides, wild centipede resources have decreased year by year, and prices have risen year by year

Centipedes have a history of several thousand years as a traditional animal-based Chinese medicinal material. In recent years, with the rapid development of the centipede detoxification and pharmaceutical industry, the supply of centipedes has become scarce. Based on the domestic medicinal market situation, and as learned from the National Special Breeding Information Conference: because people have long used chemical fertilizers and pesticides, wild centipede resources have decreased year by year, and prices have risen year by year, from a few cents per centipede in the last century to the current 1.5 yuan per centipede, moreover showing a situation of supply falling short of demand, making it difficult for a time to meet the demand of domestic and international markets.

Thus the special breeding industry of artificially farming centipedes has emerged as the times require. Artificial centipede farming has low requirements for conditions, a short breeding cycle, fast growth, high yield, and is easy to manage; it can be done as household farming or as three-dimensional large-scale farming. Today, with China having joined the World Trade Organization, artificial centipede farming has broad prospects and brings greater opportunities for entrepreneurs to earn foreign exchange through exports.

A Rare Opportunity

In today's world of rapid social and technological development, international pharmaceutical institutions no longer require Chinese medicine products to be single products with a known structure, but instead accept mixtures with fixed ingredients, stable efficacy, and reliable safety. The application of centipedes as a traditional Chinese medicine has long been favored by the international pharmaceutical market, especially in developed countries such as those in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, which import large quantities from China every year; it is a sought-after product in China's export of animal-based medicinal materials.

Centipedes are not only used as an animal-based medicinal material; in dietary nourishment and tonification, centipedes are rich in various trace elements needed by the human body. They have effects such as nourishing yin and strengthening yang, preserving youthful appearance and nourishing the complexion, and fighting cancer and dissipating masses. In major cities across China, eating centipedes has become a common trend. Centipedes can be deep-fried, pan-fried, roasted, or used in soups. The pet "golden arowana" kept by royalty, nobles, the rich, and the wealthy around the world also uses golden-headed centipedes as its main food.

Policy Support

Under the influence of the international "financial crisis," solving the problem of surplus rural labor and solving the reemployment of laid-off workers have become top priorities for the whole country. The state encourages independent entrepreneurship, with support from multiple policies. Developing the centipede farming industry is the preferred project for adjusting the industrial structure in grassroots rural areas and for the reemployment of laid-off workers. It not only addresses surplus rural labor, but also opens up a way for farmers to increase income and escape poverty toward prosperity. It further provides a rare entrepreneurial opportunity for laid-off workers to achieve reemployment and for low-efficiency units to transform!