Abandoned low-lying land can also be used to farm loaches, turning waste into treasure

In late spring, this writer saw at the Yongchuang Aquaculture Farm in Shuangyang Village, Runhe Town, Yingshang County, that a large stretch of water covering dozens of mu had been divided into several small ponds. In the ponds, dense, plump loaches churned happily in the water, foraging and stirring up splashes. In recent years, loaches have become a delicacy on the dining table and are deeply loved by "foodies." Zhang Chuanjiang, the person in charge of the farm, seized the business opportunity and embarked on a road to prosperity by farming loaches.

Spotting the business opportunity and farming loaches

In 2012, optimistic about the market prospects for loach farming, Zhang Chuanjiang contracted 40 mu of abandoned land at the village's old kiln factory and began farming loaches.

Zhang Chuanjiang, 49 this year, is from Shuangyang Village, Runhe Town, Yingshang County. For many years he had been running a company in Shanghai, mainly engaged in maritime cargo transport, and many of his relatives were engaged in aquaculture in Shanghai. In 2011, loaches sold briskly in Shanghai and other major cities, prices soared, and the business at his relatives' loach farm was booming. Zhang Chuanjiang saw it and gradually became tempted.

On a trip back to his hometown in early 2012, Zhang Chuanjiang passed by the abandoned land of the village's old kiln factory and learned that this tract of land had been abandoned for quite a few years. Dozens of mu of low-lying land were uneven, and villagers had scattered some crops, but the soil quality was poor and the crops grew less than satisfactorily. Because mechanized farming was impossible and everything depended on manual planting, the economic returns from farming the low-lying land were very low. Zhang Chuanjiang thought that since it was unsuitable for planting, why not use it for farming, convert it into ponds, and raise loaches? The returns would surely be better than growing crops. So Zhang Chuanjiang talked about his idea with the village officials. It could both put the low-lying land back into use and bring decent returns. The village officials agreed. Zhang Chuanjiang successfully contracted the 40 mu of low-lying land and invested 800,000 yuan in renovation and construction. In the first half of that year, the farm stocked loach fry.

There are tricks to farming loaches

Usually busy with the business of his Shanghai company, Zhang Chuanjiang handed the daily management of the farm to his nephew Chen Lianghua. This young man in his early 30s had previously studied loach farming techniques in Sichuan and could count as "half" an expert on loach farming. After working away from home for years, Chen Lianghua found a place to put his skills to use when the farm opened.

In Chen Lianghua's view, farming loaches carries much less risk than raising poultry and livestock, because "loaches have strong immunity, are not prone to illness, and do not have high requirements for water cleanliness. As long as you pay attention to daily disinfection and the water does not stink, it is fine." The workload at the farm is not heavy. Apart from daily cleaning, it is just feeding the feed. The routine management and labor are all handled by Chen Lianghua alone.

Speaking of farming techniques, Chen Lianghua told this writer, "The breeding of loach fry is crucial. It is not hard to say it is hard, and it is not simple to say it is simple." You have to select female loaches of the best quality, give them ovulation injections, put them into the nursery pond, and after they mate with male loaches, they can produce offspring of a good variety. "It sounds simple, but when farming loaches you also have to pay attention to quite a few details."

While scattering feed into the pond, Chen Lianghua explained that take feeding, for example: loaches have an omnivorous diet, and the small organisms in the water are all their food. Artificial farming requires putting in some plant-based feed, and you must pay attention to feeding at fixed times, in fixed amounts, at fixed locations, and with fixed quality. In choosing feed, you should choose feed that floats on the water surface and does not sink easily, to avoid it sinking to the bottom, where the feed will rot and deteriorate and damage the loaches' growing environment. This writer saw that when a big handful of feed was scattered into the pond, a group of plump loaches rushed to snatch the food, splashing waves on the water surface. Seeing this scene, Chen Lianghua smiled.

Striving for better returns "The loaches are now about big enough to be sold on the market. But recently the price of loaches on the market has been a bit low, so we have to wait until the market improves before selling." Chen Lianghua told this writer that the farming cost of one jin of loaches is about 9 yuan, and the current market price is about 13 yuan per jin, which is a bit unprofitable. The peak sales season for loaches is generally around the Spring Festival. During this year's Spring Festival, the price was more than 16 yuan per jin, output was nearly 60,000 jin, and after deducting costs they made about 400,000 yuan. Therefore, he plans to wait until the end of the year, before the Spring Festival, to sell in large quantities.

At present, the farm has been expanded to 70 mu, with a total of 20 ponds. Over the past two years, they have become prosperous by farming loaches, and Zhang Chuanjiang and Chen Lianghua are considering transferring all the land of the old kiln factory to expand the operating area. At the same time, they will deepen each pond to expand the loaches' space for activity, promote high loach yields, and strive for better economic returns.