Selling Grass Carp from Cage Culture in Batches Increases Annual Profit by 210,000 yuan
Cage culture is a major feature of grass carp farming in the Guangxi region, attracting numerous outside investors and people into the industry to seek their fortune. Zhang Xiewen of Longhua Village in Wuzhou is one of them. He was previously engaged in the leather shoe manufacturing industry and had a fair amount of idle capital on hand. In 2010, on the advice of a friend, Zhang Xiewen invested hundreds of thousands of yuan in aquaculture. He currently owns 70 cages, totaling more than 2,500 sq m of culture water surface, making him a major local farmer.
Feed Selection Focuses on Cost-Effectiveness
Having previously worked in the manufacturing industry, Zhang Xiewen has a strong awareness of costs, and even in the aquaculture industry, which depends on the weather, he pays great attention to the input-output ratio. "Feed accounts for the bulk of farming costs, so choosing a good feed is crucial." Last year, due to quality problems with one manufacturer's feed, Zhang Xiewen decisively terminated the cooperation and began seeking high-quality, stable feed.
At this time, Zhang Xiewen learned that the feed of Guangdong Huihai Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Technology Group (hereafter referred to as Huihai) had a good market reputation. With a try-it-and-see attitude, he used 4 cages to compare it with the feed of 3 other major manufacturers. After a 40-day farming trial, Huihai feed's feed conversion ratio was only 1.44, with one bag producing 34.7 jin of fish. Although the fish output was 0.5 jin/bag lower than that of another manufacturer, the price was 15 yuan/bag cheaper, giving it a more obvious overall advantage. Therefore, Zhang Xiewen immediately decided to switch entirely to Huihai feed, which also attracted nearby farmers to try it. "In addition to fast growth, Huihai feed has a high nutrient absorption rate, and the fish raised also have a very good appearance."
Facts proved his judgment. On August 15 last year, Zhang Xiewen officially began using Yutanggong 123 extruded grass carp feed. The initial weight was 1.95 jin, and on October 16, sampling showed an average weight of 4.45 jin. During this period, there happened to be a week of continuous heavy rain. Because the Xijiang River water was very turbid, no feed was given. However, in just two months, the grass carp gained 2.5 jin, with a feed conversion ratio of only 1.52. "After so many years of fish farming, achieving such results is rare." Zhang Xiewen was very satisfied with the effect of the feed and became even more confident in Huihai feed.
Changing the Model Brings High Benefits
The local area uses the traditional farming model of stocking fry all at once and harvesting fish at the end of the year. Zhang Xiewen believes this model has many problems. First, the farming cycle is too long, putting relatively great pressure on capital. Second, January to March is an idle period for farming, failing to make full use of farming resources. Third, farmers concentrate on harvesting fish at the end of the year, which often drives down fish prices, making the timing of harvest quite passive.
On the advice of Huihai Company, Zhang Xiewen began trying a new farming model. He explained that fry are stocked in November of that year, and at the same time the stocking density per cage is increased to 2,000 fish. They are raised until March-April of the following year, and when the grass carp reach about 1 jin in size, they are divided into cages for further farming. After that, the feeding amount is increased, and the farming cycle is about 3 months, with the grass carp reaching about 3 jin. At this point, 500 grass carp are first harvested from each cage to reduce the farming density. By the end of the year, the grass carp can reach a marketable size of more than 5 jin, and then fish are harvested at an opportune time according to market conditions.
It is understood that after Zhang Xiewen changed his farming model last year, he harvested nearly 800,000 jin of fish that year, with income exceeding 5 million yuan. Taking into account costs such as feed, fry and labor, the total benefit reached more than 2.2 million yuan. The benefit per cage was 31,400 yuan, with each cage earning 3,000 yuan more in profit than before, and the 70 cages increased profit by about 210,000 yuan in total. The benefits greatly exceeded those of previous years. In this regard, Zhang Xiewen highly praises this farming model. He believes it has the characteristics of being able to farm year-round, increasing output and allowing flexible harvesting, with very prominent farming advantages.
Regular Disease Control Makes Management Easy
Cage culture is relatively less difficult, but Zhang Xiewen does not dare be careless in his routine management. This is especially true during the stage when grass carp are divided into cages for farming, which coincides with the March-April water-rising period, when there are excessive pathogenic bacteria and harmful substances in the water. In addition, grass carp have weaker constitutions during the seasonal transition, so the disease rate rises sharply. Zhang Xiewen suggests paying attention to water disinfection. Hanging bags of medication upstream of each cage, using block-shaped chlorine dioxide to let the medicinal effect be released slowly, can reduce the content of pathogenic bacteria and harmful substances in the water. When dividing the cages, the grass carp netted out should first be bathed in potassium permanganate solution before being released, which can achieve a very good disinfection effect.
In addition, for cage culture, how to deal with the heavy rain period in July and August is a headache. Zhang Xiewen's approach is to definitely stop feeding during the heavy rain period, and wait until the river water becomes clear before starting to feed. First feed 1/4 of the feed, control the feed amount for 2-3 days before increasing to the normal feeding amount. At the same time, mix multivitamins, allicin and other health-care drugs into each meal, continuing for about one week, after which the grass carp can generally feed normally. As the weather turns clear and water temperature rises, pests and diseases begin to increase. He usually uses the hanging-bag method for prevention and control, applying medicated bait once every half month on a regular basis, and also has Huihai's sales staff visit to conduct tests, which can basically prevent outbreaks of parasitic diseases in advance.
"There were not many diseases in fish farming this year, and management was very worry-free." Zhang Xiewen believes that cage culture of grass carp is still relatively easy work. As long as fish diseases are prevented and treated as early as possible and management during high-incidence periods is detailed and thorough, generally there will not be too much loss. It is understood that Zhang Xiewen has already planned to build 30 additional cages to expand the farming scale, and he is also fully confident about this year's harvest.